Paint the Town Red
by goldspy
Summary: Case fic involving an unusual unsub intent painting the town with blood. When the BAU arrive in town one of their own comes to the attention of the UNSUB, who torments the team with the bodies. Can the team save their youngest member in time? Reid-Centric but features most of the team.
1. Chapter 1

**This is my first ever fan fic so be kind! I've tried to keep the characterization as realistic as possible. The Story is set in the first season with Elle. Currently Gideon is "away" for this case because I feel like he's a difficult character to write but that may change later in the story, because I can't see how he wouldn't show up when an agent of his is in trouble. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal minds or any of the criminal minds characters. **

It started off like any other friday at the BAU. Elle Greenaway was pretending to work at her desk as she contemplated how to slip some of her files to Reid. The task had been a lot more complicated since she admitted to Reid she did so but it was almost a game between them now.

Dr. Spencer Reid, to his credit, was actually behaving fairly normal that morning, reading at a "normal" pace rather than his usual break neck speed. Although that in itself was not quite normal. Glancing down at her watch Elle guessed that he had been reading the same page for the last 5 minutes. "Hey Reid" she spoke, startling Reid out of his revelry, "You okay?"

Reid frowned at her for a second before replying. "Yah I'm fine". Seeing Elle about to open her mouth he continued, "Just thinking". Elle breifly considered pressing the matter further but quickly shrugged it off, figuring she was bound to get little else from the youngest member of their tream. Maybe she would mention it to Morgan later and see if he could get more from the elusive genius.

Speaking of which Derek Morgan walked into the bullpen just then, his close cropped hair still damp from his morning workout. Before either agent could so much as greet the man Unit Chief Aaron Hotchner, aka Hotch, stepped out of his office with a sharp "BAU team in the conference room".

Any good natured banter dropped away as the agents prepared themselves for the next in the parade of horrors they faced daily. Entering the conference room Elle saw Communications Liaison Jennifer Jareau, aka JJ, waiting next to the monitor ready to present. It looked like they were all accounted for except... "Where's Gideon?" asked Reid.

JJ was clearing her throat to answer when Hotch came up behind them. " Gideon decided to sit this one out" he answered. Ignoring the "drop-it" look Hotch was giving him Reid continued to press. "But why would he?".

"Reid we can talk about it later." Hotch interrupted, "Right now we need to focus on the case.". That was the end of it. "Take it away JJ".

JJ pressed a button on the remote she carried and in an instant images of a quiet little town filled the screen. "This is Camden, a small town in Maine. Population just under 5000. Last night the Bureau received a call from Camden PD asking for BAU assistance after discovering a hotel room that may have been the scene of a horrific murder."

Hotch quickly interrupted, "May have?"

"Yes, may have" JJ continued the briefing. "When locals arrived on the scene they found blood but no body."

Morgan settled back in his chair with his arms crossed, an annoyed look on his face. "Why is this a BAU case?"

"I was just getting to that" JJ snapped at him. She was slightly annoyed by all the interruptions. "This is a BAU case because the first officer on scene found this" JJ pressed a button on the remote again and suddenly a horrific image filled the screen, one that made even the seasoned profilers gasp.

On the screen in front of them there was blood. Just blood, everywhere. It seemed like someone had gone to great lengths to paint the hotel room red with blood. Ceiling, floor, wall, everything was covered. The rest of the team, all 4 profilers in the room at that moment, just sat staring at the blood.

"Without knowing the exact dimensions of the room its hard to know for sure but given that an adult male body contains an average of 5 - 6 quartzs of blood the probabilities say we are looking at the entire volume from at least 6 people, maybe more." Reid spouted.

It was JJ who dared to ask the question that was on the everyone's mind. "How many more?" Reid shot her a piercing stare before simply replying "A lot more".

The room fell silent as the team digested what Reid had just said. Elle shifted uncomfortably in her seat while Reid fidgeted with his pen. It was finally Morgan who broke the silence. "How do we know he hasn't just been drawing the blood of one individual repeatedly over time?"

It was Agent Hotchner who answered before Reid got the chance. "Blood types", he told them while flipping through the file. "The preliminary blood work on scene has identified 3 different blood types so far, meaning at least 3 different contributors. At least 3 potential victims."

"Besides", Elle broke in, "You don't paint a hotel room red with blood unless you are sending a message. The only question now is what exactly is that message."

"Here I am" suggested Reid, "Catch me if you can".

The profilers glanced around the room, gauging each others' reactions before Hotch announced their imminent departure. "It seems like we're going to Maine then. Wheels up in 30".

**I wanted to have more written before I put it up but I wanted to see what people thought so please review. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry for the delaying in posting. I have been busy and I have found myself doing a lot of background research for these early chapters. Just a note that when Reid is talking in front of the map it's not supposed to mean anything :P Also I promise a lot more unsub in the next chapter if you just bare with me. I just needed to get a lot of information disseminated to make the story work.**

**Disclaimer: As always I do not own Criminal Minds nor the Criminal Minds Characters. **

The case was already starting to get to people and they hadn't even made it to the crime scene yet. Despite the 30 minutes Hotch had given them before wheel's up, the entire team was gathered in the cabin of the BAU's Gulfstream IV jet a mere 15 minutes later.

Seeing that everyone was on-board Hotch made his way to the cockpit to tell the pilots they were ready. It took another 10 minutes for air craft control to clear the Jet for take-off and within minutes they were in the air.

Hotch opened the case file in front of him. "Let's go over what we know about the case" he said when they had been in the air about 30 minutes. Hotch and Morgan were seated on opposite sides of the aircraft near the front of the cabin while Elle lounged closer to the back, where JJ sat off to the side. Reid stood alone at the very back of the cabin filling his mug from the onboard coffee maker.

When Hotch spoke Reid made his way up the aisle and sat next to Elle while JJ got up and walked forward to stand next to Morgan. "The room was registered to a guest by the name of James Bower." JJ recounted. "Housekeeping entered the room at about 8:30 yesterday morning to clean. When she saw the blood the housekeeper called the manager and the manager called the local police department. Local department sent 2 Unis down to investigate. Seems local police originally thought it might have been a prank."

Hotch glanced down at the file in front of him for a second before looking back at JJ. "Do we know how long Mr. Bower was registered as a guest for?"

"The hotel reported that Mr. Bower was registered to stay for a week. He had requested no housekeeping for the first two days but apparently requested early service yesterday morning." The liaison hesitated a moment before continuing. "It seems none of his belongings were found in the room so locals don't expect him to return."

Hotch frowned at this latest bit of news. "We need background on James Bower as soon as possible, though if he is our Unsub it wouldn't suprise me if he checked in under a false name. Moving along though, we have the blood of at least 3 potential murder victims. It looks like the state crime lab is currently performing a detailed analysis of the blood which will most likely reveal more victims."

Reid took over from Hotch. "It says here that preliminary analysis of the sample indicates a lack of the characteristic changes associated with preserved storage".

"Meaning?" Morgan butted in.

"Meaning the blood is all fresh."

Just then the team heard a sound from the laptop sitting on the table between them. Technical Analyst Penelope Garcia's smiling face had appeared on the screen and she greeted them with a cheery "Good morning crime fighters."

"Morning sweetheart ", Morgan was quick to reply, "What have you got for us."

"Well I ran a background search on the man the hotel room was registered to and so far I've got zilch, nada, bupkiss. As far as I can tell this James Bower doesn't exist. Turns out the credit card he used when checking into the hotel was counterfeit." The whole team could see the eccentric blond typing away rapidly at her computer as she spoke."Also some of the blood work has come back from the state lab, I'm sending it to you now."

"Thanks babygirl" was all Morgan managed to get out before the technical analyst was gone and the familiar FBI background reappeared on the screen. JJ walked to the front of the cabin and grabbed the report that was coming off the printer. She barely glanced at it before handing it to Hotch.

The rest of the team sat silent giving their team leader a chance to read through the report. "It seems the state lab has managed to isolate samples contributed by 7 different people so far, 4 males and 3 females. They ran the DNA and got hits on 2 of the samples which they have identified as belonging to Jimmy Farland and Sam Jones."

-PTTR-PTTR-PTTR-

When the team landed at the Knox County Regional Airport there was an agent from the local field office waiting for them next to a couple of black SUVs. After introducing himself as Agent Carbrooke from the Boston field office the man handed a set of keys each to Hotch and Morgan and took off.

"That's a long drive just for SUVs" Morgan commented as the other agent drove off. "It's a 3 hour and 20 minute drive from the field office in Boston assuming traffic on the I-95 and Route-1 is good. We were in the air for 2 hours and 50 minutes. Assuming he left as soon as they knew we were coming he must have arrived just before we did" explained Reid.

Morgan shot his teammate an all-too-familiar look when he finished giving them the facts. "Like I said Kid, that's a long drive just to drop off SUVs". Grinning at the exchange the team split themselves between the two vehicles. JJ hopped into the passenger seat next to Morgan while Elle took the seat next to Hotch. Reid folded his lanky form into the back seat of the SUV carrying Elle and their team leader and the group set off on the 20 minute drive to Camden PD.

-PTTR-PTTR-PTTR-

"Camden Police were on scene this morning at the Donovan Hotel along with crime scene investigators. There are no details yet as to what officers found inside the hotel but sources inside the department say that the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit has been called in to help with the investigation."

The man wandered into the room just in time to catch shots of 3 men and 2 woman as they emerged from a pair of parked SUVs and headed towards the local police station. Reporters crowded around as the group entered the building all eager for news on what had transpired at the hotel. He smiled to himself as he stroked his guest's hair. "Now the real fun begins".

-PTTR-PTTR-PTTR-

The team finally made it to the front door of the station, the profilers pushing through with a "No Comment" quick at hand. JJ stopped on the steps to the building to make a short statement. "The Camden PD will be holding a press conference as soon as details are ready to be released to the public. That's all I can give you for now." Her intervention allowed her team to make it out of the spotlight and safely behind closed doors. JJ followed them into the building just over a minute later having finished with the press.

The team were greeted inside the station by a tall, robust looking man with a detective's shield hanging from his belt. "You must be Detective Stanfield. I'm Jennifer Jareau. We spoke on the phone. This is my team." The communications liaison quickly stepped up and shook hands with the man. "This is Supervisory Special Agent Aaron Hotchner along with Agents Greenaway, Morgan and Dr. Spencer Reid."

Detective Stanfield shook hands with all the agents except for Reid who gave him a funny little wave. With the introductions done the detective quickly got down to business. "Thank you guys for coming. You've got to understand we have no idea what we are dealing with here. The last murder we had was 5 years ago and it was a pretty cut and dry murder-suicide. This is a small town and folks don't really know how to deal with violence, you know?"

"Well we're here to help" Hotch assured him, "Now is there somewhere we can set up? Preferably with a table and evidence board."

"Yah sure follow me." The detective led them through the station to a small conference room at the very back. "I know it's not much but we aren't a big department so it will have to do." The conference room was set up with both an evidence board and a white board along with a long rectangular table set in the middle. A television mounted high on the wall was tuned to the local news though the sound had been muted.

"Don't worry about it. We've worked with far less." Hotch told the man. Turning towards his team Hotch quickly began handing out the assignments. "Reid, you and Elle stay here and work on victimology. Morgan we'll go to the crime scene."

"How do we want to handle the press on this one?" JJ asked, looking to her boss to make the decision.

"I think we should try to keep the details out of the press as long as possible" Hotch decided. "Since we profiled that he is trying to send a message with the scene we don't want him to think he has an outlet."

"All right," JJ replied, "I'll brief the locals on how to handle the media attention."'

Once everyone knew what they were supposed to be doing Hotch turned back to Detective Stanfield who still stood in the room with them. "Can you get one of your officers to take us over to the hotel crime scene?"

"I'll take you over myself" volunteered the detective.

Shortly after Hotch and Morgan left with Detective Stanfield, Reid finished setting up a laptop on the table in the conference room. After a few taps of the keys he and Elle found themselves once again staring at the familiar face of their technical analyst.

"Garcia you have me and Elle here, what do we have on Jimmy Farland and Sam Jones so far."

"Jimmy Farland has been arrested numerous times, mostly on minor offences. Petty theft, shop lifting, that sort of thing. He was recently released after finishing 2 years at the Bare Hill Correctional Faciility as a guest of the state of New York for Burglary. Last known address was a halfway house in Malone. "

"What about Sam Jones?" asked Elle.

"He was arrested in 2008 for a sexual assault charge but never convicted. Seems the victim changed her story claiming it was consensual. They had enough to compel a DNA sample but without the victims testimony they couldn't prove a crime had been commited so the charges were dropped. And here's where it gets really icky, his last known address has him residing with the victim in Dayton, Ohio. I've faxed more complete information on both victims to the station."

Reid quickly thanked the tech analyst for her help. "One last thing. Did you get a chance to run missing person's for the area?"

"Do you even have to ask?" she jabbed. "My search brought up only one person reported missing within the county in the past 3 weeks, a teenager who was found 2 days later. Turns out she had decided to crash at a friend's place and forgot to tell her parents. But somehow you don't look surprised by these results Doctor."

Reid frowned in thought. "Both men were from out of state. Given his criminal history Jimmy's not likely to hold down a regular job so after being released from prison he may have become transient. We could be looking at someone targeting transients."

While Reid and Garcia talked Elle wandered over to the fax machine and picked up the reports Garcia had faxed over. After perusing Jimmy Farland's file she joined in the conversation. "Reid you may have a point. Not only has he been arrested for property crimes in several different states but it seems he was fired from his only job as a janitor because they suspected he was stealing from school he worked at."

"And what about Sam Jones? Anything in his file other than the sexual assault charge?" Reid asked.

Elle handed him the file. "Nothing in his criminal history but it seems like he has moved around a lot, living with friends, girlfriends, that sort of thing. Evidently he worked in construction and took jobs all over the country."

Elle watched silently as Reid read through the entire file in less than a minute. "If he's targeting transient individuals that could make it a lot harder to track down the other victims. No-one notices them missing or if they do it takes a while for it to be reported. Garcia see if you can track down what Sam Jones may have been working on in the area. Also it may not do any good but try expanding the missing person's search to the entire state."

"On it." Garcia replied before cutting the connection.

-PTTR-PTTR-PTTR-

Morgan paced slowly across the hotel room, careful to stick to the path the crime scene techs had marked, while Hotch stood in the corner staring at the Unsubs work. "Well we know he didn't kill the victims here so he must have brought the blood with him." Morgan said, stopping in front of a particularly bloody pattern.

"How do we know that?" Detective Stanfield asked.

'Well for one thing we know he only used the room for two days. It takes time to drain all the blood from a body, time which our Unsub clearly didn't have. Secondly, how do you get 7 people into a hotel room, kill them and get their bodies out without someone noticing. No they were killed somewhere else. Not to mention the fact that none of these patterns is natural." While Hotch explained this to the detective Morgan wandered over to the opposite corner of the room and bent down. He reached out a blue gloved finger as if to touch the blood but stopped his hand a hair's breadth away.

"Morgan you got something?" Hotch asked when he noticed what his younger colleague was doing.

"Maybe. I don't know Hotch. There is just something off about this section of the wall." Morgan was still staring at the section of wall when all three men started at the sound of the door opening. The two profilers had their service weapons draw and pointed at the door lightning fast but relaxed when they saw a young man sporting an ID badge that identified him as a crime scene tech. "S-s-sorry" the young man stuttered when confronted by the weapons, "I just came by to take a few more samples."

The profilers lowered their weapons and watched as the tech walked over to an area already sporting multiple markers and set down his kit. When he pulled out a small pen knife and started scraping at the wall they turned back to their own investigation.

"Hotch I think we should have Reid take a look at these designs in the blood. They look random to me but he might see a pattern we missed." suggested Morgan.

"Good idea" replied Hotch, "Grab a camera from the car and see if you can get more detailed pictures of these patterns specifically." Just as Morgan was leaving to carry out his boss's orders the crime scene tech spoke up.

"Would it be helpful to know that the blood was applied in layers?" he asked. The profilers moved silently over to where he was working and the tech gestured at the wall. At the center of where he pointed was a small discoloured patch of blue. Marching outwards from the wall the colour started off brown and became progressively redder. "I think this section in the middle here is the original colour of the wall, or close enough. you can see here how I've scraped off different layers of the blood."

"I was careful not to touch any of the designs" the tech was quick to add when he saw the frown forming on the team leader's face.

Hotch thanked the young man for the information. "Morgan you focus on getting those pictures. I'm going to call the rest of the team and fill them in. This might be nothing but it might be something."

-PTTR-PTTR-PTTR-

Morgan and Hotch had returned from the crime scene some time ago and most of the team was gathered around the table at the center of the conference room. The evidence board in front of them was covered with close up photographs of the designs the unsub had left in the blood along with a large detailed town map of Camden. Reid stood in front of the map gesticulating wildly. "... and after substituting the values for the coefficient the pattern became obvious."

"Hold on kid" Morgan interrupted Reid's ramblings, "Slow down and start from the beginning. In English please." Just minutes before Reid had run into the room, pinned up the map and started ranting about geographical overlays.

"Sam Jones worked construction jobs all over the country while Jimmy Farland had just been released from prison so they were fairly transient and hard to track. However when Elle talked to the girlfriend Sam Jones had been living with we found out that even when the employer provided living allowances he preferred to "couch surf" so to speak. After doing some snooping around online Garcia found out that both Sam and Jimmy belonged to a hospitality exchange website called FreeStay." Reid stopped for a moment to take a sip of his coffee and catch his breath.

"Now Garcia was able to identify the host Sam had been staying with recently but not Jimmy. Jimmy hasn't had contact with anyone through the site in over a month. But I got Garcia to create a geographic overlay based on all the hosts within the town and a large cluster of them fall directly within this geographic area." Reid pointed to a circle he had marked on the map. "Our best bet on tracking down the missing victims would be to canvas this area."

"Good work Reid now..." Hotch trailed off as his phone began to ring. "Agent Hotchner." he barked out as he snapped open his phone. "Your sure? All right we'll be there". Snapping his phone closed again Hotch turned to the rest of the team, "Reid take Elle and some local officers and go check out the area. The rest of you with me."

"What happened?" asked JJ.

"They found another crime scene."

**Thanks for reading, as always please review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**I've tried to stay as factual as possible for fiction but this chapter and the next couple that follow include some creative liberties required to make some scenes work. I apologize in advance. Also I should have mentioned this before that any real places are used fictitiously. In other words street names are made up. Also fair warning this will probably be the last chapter rated T. All future chapters will have an M rating just in case. **

**Disclaimer: As always I do not own Criminal Minds or any of the characters from Criminal Minds.**

As soon the SUV slowed to a stop Hotch, Morgan, JJ and Detective Stanfield jumped out. They approached the doors to the building but stopped as a pair of uniformed officers emerged. "It's pretty bad in there guys" one of the officers cautioned.

The crime scene techs were just starting to arrive on scene. "I want all of the samples from this crime scene gathered and shipped to Quantico, ASAP" Hotch ordered. "The state lab is already stretched thin with the evidence from the first crime scene. JJ contact the Boston field office and get an evidence response team out here."

JJ walked off to make the necessary calls but returned in less than ten minutes. "We're in luck for once" she told her boss, "It seems that one of the evidence response teams from the Boston division was over in Augusta doing outreach at an elementary school. That team is on route now and should be here within the hour."

When one of the crime scene techs approached the group Hotch nodded a quick acknowledgment, indicating that the tech should speak. "The uh, the floor is mostly clear so I guess you guys can go in so long as you take the normal precautions." Looking embarrassed the woman excused herself and returned to the crime scene.

Detective Stanfield led the profilers through the front doors of the library to a door at the back. The sign on the door read "Story Room." Detective Stanfield pushed open the door to reveal the nightmare of blood within.

"Damn" Morgan said from somewhere behind Hotch. Secretly Hotch couldn't help but agree with the younger man. The grizzly scene in front of them resembled something out of Hell.

Morgan moved into the room and started taking pictures of the walls with a camera he brought from the SUV. Hotch and the detective had moved away from the door and were engaged in quiet discussion. JJ just stood in the doorway, horrified by the scene but unable to look away. "God." She breathed, "How did he find the time."

Overhearing her, Detective Stanfield stopped what he was saying to Hotch mid-sentence. "The library was closed for renovations. The work finished the day before last. Head librarian was coming in to get things ready for the grand re-opening tomorrow morning. She's the one who called the police after she saw the door was open and came over to investigate."

Hotch walked over to the communications liaison. "JJ" he called gently, snapping her back to reality. "We need you out front. The press is going to be here soon and we need to get a handle on this thing quickly."

"Right." JJ pulled herself away from the doorway and headed back outside.

After watching his subordinate leave Hotch made his way into the Story Room followed closely by the detective. He entered the room to find Morgan crouching down examining a corner of the room like he had done at the earlier crime scene. "Morgan, what did you find?"

"Call me crazy, Hotch, but I think there's some ridge detail."

"You mean?"

"Yah, I think the unsub has been signing his work."

-PTTR-PTTR-PTTR-

Elle and Reid stood with a half a dozen officers at a crossroad dead center of the area Reid had circled earlier on the map. Elle addressed the officers while Reid handed out lists. "Okay listen up. There are about a dozen homes in this area belonging to individuals registered as hosts. Reid and I will visit the people on this list while the rest of you canvas the homes surrounding. Ask if anyone has seen anything or heard anything. If this is the unsub's hunting ground someone is bound to have seen something."

When Elle finished her speech the officers divided the areas around the listed houses among themselves and headed off in different directions. "Come on, we'll hit up the house where Sam Jones was staying first." Elle told Reid, leading the way to a townhouse one street over.

When Elle walked up and rang the bell they were greeted by a young woman who looked to be in her early 20s. She greeted them with a "What?"

"Are you Eleanor Hunt?" Elle asked.

"Who wants to know." the young woman shot back.

"I'm Special Agent Elle Greenway. This is Special Agent Dr. Spencer Reid. We're with the FBI and we'd like to ask you a few questions. Can we come in?"

Ms. Hunt stepped back from the doorway and waved them in. "Whatever. This better not take long."

"Thank you Ms. Hunt." said Elle, stepping into the front hall. "Now I understand you recently had a man staying with you by the name of Sam Jones."

-PTTR-PTTR-PTTR-

He toyed with the knife, using the tip to follow the lines of her jaw and trace a path along her throat. There was something sensuous in the gesture, almost as if he was caressing her. When he felt a drop land on his hands he removed the knife and reached with his empty hand to gently brush away her tears.

Before he could return to his ministrations the phone on his belt buzzed angrily. Setting the knife down just out of her reach he got up and answered it with a gruff "Hey."

The woman could see his whole manner change as he talked on the phone, getting angrier by the second. She could only hear his half of the conversation but from that she could tell something wasn't going as planned.

"Wait"

"Slow down"

"Are you sure?"

"Okay I'll be there just give me half an hour?"

"Why didn't you say that in the first place. I'll be right over."

The man slammed the phone closed and jammed it back onto his belt. "Today's your lucky day sweetheart," he said, sneering at the woman in front of him. "It seems you get a reprieve." Untying her arms from the posts he forced her hands together and deftly wound the rope around them, securing them in front of her with a solid knot. Forcing her up to her feet he marched her back down to the basement, the knife at her back warning her not to try anything.

Down in the basement he forced her arms high above her head and hooked the ropes that bound them onto a hook dangling from the ceiling. He left without another word, turning off the lights and leaving her in darkness to contemplate her fate.

-PTTR-PTTR-PTTR-

Reid and Elle walked up and knocked on what felt like the hundredth door that day. A handsome dark haired man opened the door in front of them. "Can I help you with something?"

"Are you George Stanley?" Elle asked.

"No I'm a family friend. I check on him from time to time. What is this about?" the man replied.

"I'm Agent Greenaway, this is Agent Reid, we're with the FBI," she replied pulling out her credentials to show the man as Reid did the same. "We have a few questions for Mr. Stanley."

"Why don't you come in." the man invited. "I'll go get him but I think I should be present while you question him. George is not quite right, you know?" He led the agents into what appeared to be the living room and motioned for them to sit on the couch. "I'll be right back."

Leaving the agents the man walked upstairs and entered the back room where he had left George. "George, listen to me. I need you to go downstairs to the living room. There are a couple of agents there. Talk to them but don't answer any of their questions until I join you, okay?"

Nodding his agreement George headed downstairs.

Meanwhile Elle and Reid remained standing in the living room next to the couch. Elle leaned in close to Reid and whispered "Are you sure this George Stanley guy was listed as a host?"

Reid nodded his head vigorously. "His name was on the list Garcia generated from the website and he actually received several positive references from people who had stayed with him."

The whispered exchange ended when they heard a creek and both agents turned instinctively towards the stairs. A plump, slightly balding man waltzed into the room with a goofy grin on his face. "Agents, please have a seat". Ending his invitation with a giggle he took the easy chair across from the sofa.

Both Elle and Reid sat down on the couch after exchanging a quick look between them. Elle wondered why anyone would want to stay with the man before them, even if the lodging was free. "Can we ask you a couple of questions?" she asked instead.

"I'm not really supposed to talk to you." came the reply, followed by another giggle.

"Supposed to?" asked Reid, "You're like 30. You own a house."

"I've said too much already" replied the man, each word punctuated by another mad giggle. "But I like you guys. Let me paint with you."

Elle leaned forward and Reid's eyebrows shot up at this last statement. Elle was reaching for the gun at her hip when she suddenly felt every muscle in her body become rigid at once followed by nothingness.

-PTTR-PTTR-PTTR-

Morgan sat staring at the photos spread out on the conference room table while Hotch stood staring at those pinned up to the evidence board from the earlier crime scene. There were some similarities between the two yet neither profiler had found a pattern so far. Still, without additional information about the victims the designs the unsub made were their best lead, at least until the results from the newest blood samples came back.

When the boys from the evidence response team had arrived they had confirmed the presence of ridge detail and natural oils in the blood. There wasn't enough for comparison of course; one of the forensic experts suggested that the unsub had swiped his thumb in the blood intentionally to obscure it. However it seems whoever left the print had also left skin cells which had been sent along with the other samples to Quantico for analysis.

After what seemed like hours of staring at photos of blood colored walls Morgan would have sworn he could see swirls, loops and whirls in blood every time he looked up. Placing the picture he had just picked up back on the table Morgan glanced at his watch. "Hey Hotch, is nearly 10 o'clock. Shouldn't Reid and Elle have been back by now."

Frowning, Hotch turned away from the evidence board and stuck his head out the door into the station bullpen. "Hey" he called to the first officer he spotted, "Has anyone returned from canvassing."

Slightly startled the officer looked up from his paperwork. "The last of our guys came back an hour ago. Officer Silver said your agents were still checking out hosts."

Hotch withdrew back into the conference room and shut the door. He was about to order Morgan to try Reid when Morgan's phone began to buzz. Glancing briefly at the caller ID Morgan flipped it open and answered. "Hey babygirl, you're on speaker."

"We got another match from blood found at the first crime scene. Blood from the scene matched DNA submitted years ago by the mother of a missing 12-year old boy. The boy was found alive but for some reason the DNA never got removed from the system. His name was George Stanley and his driver's license lists his current address as 123 Garrotview Lane in Camden."

"Garrotview Lane? Why does that sound familiar." asked Morgan.

Hotch had wondered over to Reid's map as Garcia spoke. "That street is dead center of the area where Elle and Reid are canvassing. Garcia get me everything you can on George Stanley."

**Once again thanks for reading and please take the time to review. **


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry for the long delay between uploading this chapter and the last chapter. I started working at a group home this week so I have been too exhausted. I wanted to upload it last night when I finally finished but I always try to give myself a day between when I finish my first round of edits and when I do my final round of edits to help catch anything I missed. Some notes to make reading this chapter easier. First of all I apologize for jumping back and forth between Friday night and Saturday morning in the action. I hope it isn't too confusing. After this chapter I think there is only one more scene that happens on Friday night that I couldn't fit into this chapter for reasons that will become apparent later. Also anything in Italics means its happening inside a characters head: either a nightmare or a memory. Finally I promise JJ will appear again in the next chapter. I couldn't fit her into the action but they will need her expertise with the media soon enough. I also promise that the case is far from over and there will be more profiling to come! **

**Random note: The very last scene of this chapter was one of the first scenes I imagined when I was putting the idea for this story together. **

**Disclaimer: As always I do not own Criminal Minds or any of the Criminal Minds characters.**

_He followed the trail of blood. It started off as a single small drop here or there, but soon turned into a steady stream. By the time he reached the end of the trail he was face to face with what could only be described as a waterfall of blood, gushing down over the mouth of a cave. He approached slowly, nearer and nearer, straining this way and that, trying to see beyond the wall of blood..._

Morgan woke with a start. Glancing at the clock next to him on the bedside table he saw it was only 5:30 but there was no way he saw himself returning to that fitful sleep and his blood-filled nightmares. Dragging himself out of bed he pulled on a change of clothes and thought back to the night before.

_It had taken Garcia less than 5 minutes to send them preliminary information on George Stanley. Born in Augusta, raised by a single mom. Went missing at age 12 after being kidnapped by his paternal grandparents. Returned home a year later after a serious car accident killed the grandparents. Moved to Camden with his mom and lived there ever since. Inherited the house on Garrotview Lane when his mom passed away earlier that year. Nothing they had found connected him to the other victims so it seemed like maybe Reid's theory about the killer targeting transients was wrong. When he slammed the file down in frustration Hotch looked up from his own work and suggested that it was time for both of them to get some rest. When he asked about Reid and Elle Hotch suggested that if they got caught up somewhere they may have gone straight to the hotel. They would all rendezvous in the morning. _

Snapping back to the present, Morgan decided to walk the couple of blocks to the station. He was so caught up in his thoughts that he never noticed that there was only one SUV in the parking lot.

-PTTR-PTTR-PTTR-

The first thing Morgan noticed when he entered the station was Hotch and Detective Stanfield clustered over some files in the back conference room, the door having been left open. Greeting the officer on duty at the front desk Morgan headed to the break room first and grabbed a cup of coffee before joining his boss and the detective in the conference room.

"Guess you guys couldn't sleep either huh?" Morgan said when he entered. It was just after 6 in the morning but both men looked like they had been at it for a while.

"I got a few hours." Hotch answered. "But the DNA results on the skin samples came back from the lab this morning. There was a match but we don't have enough for a warrant."

"What do you mean?" Morgan asked his boss.

"The DNA came back a match to blood from the first crime scene." Hotch informed him. "Specifically the blood we already identified as belonging to George Stanley."

"So let's go pick up the sick son of a bitch."

"We can't Morgan. You know we can't use DNA from the missing person's database used for investigative person. Not to mention that the DNA profile in question should have been deleted as soon as the kid was found safe. Without the DNA evidence we don't have anything to arrest him on. We don't even have the profile."

"Hotch this guy may have murdered at least 7 people. You know there was only at most a day between when he finished up at the hotel and started at the library. He could be hunting more victims right now." There was a loud bang as Morgan slammed his fist into the desk as he was apt to do whenever he felt helpless.

"All right. We can at least pick him up for questioning." Hotch decided. When they reached the parking lot Hotch looked around before raising an eyebrow. "You didn't drive over?"

"No I decided to walk, why?" Morgan replied.

"I got a ride over with Detective Stanfield this morning." Hotch gave a little lopsided grin.

"Well it's a good thing some boys from the Augusta satellite office dropped off another SUV for you folks last night." Detective Stanfield informed them, grinning at the agents. "Seems that Communications liaison of yours requisitioned another one when she was calling for the evidence retrieval team." With another grin the detective tossed Agent Hotchner a set of keys and led them behind the station to where the black SUV was parked.

"Morgan call Reid and Elle and tell them to meet us there." ordered Hotch once they were settled. Hotch was driving with Morgan up front beside him and Detective Stanfield in back.

Morgan quickly dialed Elle's number. The phone rang half a dozen times before her voicemail picked up. "You've reached Elle Greenaway. I can't come to the phone right now but if you leave a message I'll try to get back to you." After leaving a quick message with the details he tried Reid's cell phone next but it went straight to voicemail. "Hello, this is Spencer Reid. Please leave a message."

"Hotch I can't reach either of them. Reid's phone didn't even ring, it went straight to voicemail." Morgan informed his boss. It didn't take a seasoned profiler to hear the stress and worry evident in the younger man's voice.

"Get Garcia on the phone."

-PTTR-PTTR-PTTR-

The man checked the agents slumped on the living room couch. They were both out cold for the moment but he knew that wouldn't last long. He relieved the agents of their service weapons, tucking one of the guns into the waist band of his pants and handing the other one to George. "Georgie look through their things while I go upstairs and find a slightly more...permanent solution. Try to find out how much they know." the man ordered before heading upstairs.

George started off by searching the female agent's pockets first. He tossed her credentials over his shoulder to land in the corner while her cell phone and PDA were placed in a neat little pile next to him. Her handcuffs joined her credentials in the corner with a dull thud while everything else was cast aside.

Moving on to the male agent, his credentials quickly joined hers in the corner while his cell phone was likewise placed gently on the floor. Finding nothing else of interest he moved on to the messenger bag the agent carried. He opened the bag and dumped out its contents on the floor. In doing so some pictures fell out of one of the file folders the agent carried. He grinned when he saw the pictures but his grin quickly turned to a scowl after noticing that some of the pictures had been marked up, using various colors of ink, spoiling their beauty.

He spent almost a full minute staring at the pictures before he gathered them up and shoved them back in the folder. Gathering the rest of the FBI folders he placed them all in a neat little pile next to the confiscated electronics. He was about to turn away from the mess when a single piece of paper covered in what appeared to be addresses caught his eye.

Picking up the piece of paper he scanned rapidly over the names and addresses until his eyes fixated on one name in particular: His own. He giggled madly at the discovery. His friend would be delighted to learn that he was on an FBI list.

-PTTR-PTTR-PTTR-

Once upstairs the man headed to the bathroom and began rifling through George's medicine cabinet. He found all kinds of prescription medications and quickly grabbed a vial of amobarbital sodium and a bottle of liquid lorazepam. He threw the medicines into a plastic bag along with half a dozen individually sealed hypodermic needles that he grabbed from a box on the shelf.

Leaving the bathroom the man entered the bedroom and quickly set about searching the usual places. He got lucky and struck gold, so to speak, as the third place he searched contained exactly what he needed: several ampoules of the much stronger propofol. It was a good thing George preferred the strong stuff. He took them all, he could always replace them later, and headed back downstairs. The agents would be waking at any moment.

-PTTR-PTTR-PTTR-

"Office of omnipotence, do you realize what time it is" complained Garcia when she answered the phone.

"Sorry babygirl. It's important. " At Morgan's tone Garcia was instantly upright in her seat her hands at the ready. "Can you track Reid's and Elle's cell phones?"

"Just give me a minute." Garcia worked quickly bringing up a program she had written and within moments she had activated the GPS locator on Elle's phone. "Okay it looks like Elle's phone is currently located within the vicinity of Garrotview Lane. I've sent the coordinates to your GPS." Garcia hit a few more keys and then gasped. "Not only is wonder boy's phone turned off but I think the GPS locator's been smashed!"

Garcia heard a "Hotch step on it," from Morgan and the wail of police siren's followed promptly by a dial tone. Garcia forgave Morgan this one time for not saying goodbye. Her babies were in trouble!

-PTTR-PTTR-PTTR-

As soon as he reached the bottom of the stairs George shoved a sheet of paper into the man's face. "What is this" he demanded, a scowl plastered firmly on his face. George just gave a mad laugh. When no answer seemed forthcoming the man grabbed the sheet of paper and quickly scanned it over. "Where did you get this?"

George pointed at the unconscious FBI agents behind him. The man continued to press him for information. "Why is your name on this list." When George didn't answer the man decided to examine the names on the list more carefully. His scowl depended when he recognized another name on the list. "Don't tell me you're still active on that stupid hospitality exchange site?"

"I can't help it. The people who stay with me are so beautiful," said George. He gave a great big sigh, now readily playing the part of the tortured artist. "They inspire me."

With a role of his eyes the man pulled a couple of the hypodermic needles and two of the ampoules of propofol out of the plastic bag. With practiced ease he snapped the neck off one ampoule, ripped open one of the needles and filled the syringe. George started to whine when he saw the drugs but a look from the man silenced him.

The man approached the female agent first. She was still out cold when he approached her so injecting her with the propofol was quick and painless. He went back and filled the second syringe in the same practiced manner. He stared down at the helpless young man before him for a second. The man thought he looked more like a college student then an FBI field agent. The agent was just beginning to stir when he jabbed the needle into the young man's neck and pressed down on the plunger.

-PTTR-PTTR-PTTR-

Hotch broke every speed limit on the way to George Stanley's house. The whole time Detective Stanley was frantically radioing the rest of the squad on duty trying to secure them some backup. Frankly Hotch wasn't in the mood to wait, not when two of his agents were in trouble.

When they arrived he brought the SUV to a screeching halt in front of the unsub's house and all three men jumped out. A squad car pulled up behind the bureau-issued SUV less than 15 seconds later and two uniformed officers hopped out. Backup had arrived.

The agents approached the house first, guns drawn. Hearing only silence they waved the other men forward. Hotch held up his fingers in a silent count and on 3 Morgan kicked the door in.

They spread out all around as they began to clear the house. Agent Hotchner took the front room off to the right and waved Morgan towards the back of the house. He sent the uniformed officers upstairs while the detective headed towards what appeared to be the kitchen. Hotch was about to yell "Clear" when he heard Morgan yell.

"George Stanley. FBI. Drop your weapons and step away from the body."

It took all of Hotch's self control not to go running towards the back of the house. He proceeded with caution, his gun held at the ready, checking everywhere in case the unsub had a partner lying in wait. He was joined in the hallway by Detective Stanfield and the two men moved together into the room where Morgan stood with his gun pointed at the unsub.

Morgan repeated his command. "I said put your weapons down and step away from the body." The Unsub stood over someone holding a knife in one hand and a Glock in the other. The body was bathed in shadows so it was impossible to tell who it was, or if the individual was even still alive.

George looked up and stared Morgan straight in the eye, a mad grin on his face. "Oh you won't shoot me Agent." The man practically spat the last word at him.

"And why the hell not?" asked Morgan. He knew he wasn't really helping the situation but he couldn't help himself.

Instead of answering Morgan, the man turned to stare directly at Agent Hotchner. The man locked stares with the team leader for almost a minute before he replied using an almost a sing-song voice. "Because I know where your agent is."

**Thank you for reading. I promise the team will soon have the bodies they need for a decent profile! Any reviews are greatly appreciated. Oh and I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to bring Gideon in soon. **


	5. Chapter 5

**So I realized when I started writing this chapter that there were a few inconsistencies with the layout of the house. When I started writing about George Stanley's house the living room could be seen from the stairs but in the layout I ultimately ended up using the staircase is at the front of the house and the living room is at the back, so there you go. I don't know if anyone else noticed but its been bothering me all day. Also in case you are confused by this chapter Morgan did call JJ to let her know what was going on it just didn't fit into the action in the last chapter. Finally I promise that as of next chapter the unidentified man will no longer be thinking of Reid as "the agent." It's starting to get on my nerves even but I promise it was necessary.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds, nor do I own any of the Criminal Minds characters. I do own Detective Stanfield, George Stanley and the unidentified man. **

Glancing around the room the man grabbed the handcuffs from where they had landed in the corner. He then proceeded to grab the agent and shoved him roughly. When the young man was lying on his stomach his captor yanked his arms behind him and slapped the cuffs on his wrists, making sure they were as tight as possible. The man flashed a grin at the unconscious agent and reveled in the irony that the young man was now secured with his partner's cuffs. The moment passed quickly though and then it was back to business.

"George!". The man had to repeat the name several times before he caught the other man's attention. "Help me carry this agent to the car." the man ordered when George finally looked at him.

Between the two of them they were able to carry the agent out to the car easily. Although he was over 6 feet tall, the young man didn't weigh much and they soon had him in the trunk of a car. The man grabbed a role of duct tape from inside the trunk and bound the agent's legs first before slapping a piece of tape over his mouth. Glancing at his watch the man figured he had another hour or so before the drug released its hold on the agent but he wasn't taking any chances. With one last look at the captive man he slammed the trunk shut.

"George I'm heading out. I'm trusting you to take care of the girl. Can you do that?"

George nodded eagerly and if any of the team had seen the smile on his face at that moment they would have been even more worried for their friend.

-PTTR-PTTR-PTTR-

It took everything Morgan had to hide his surprise at the man's words. Somewhere his mind had registered the fact that there was only one body but he hadn't considered what that really meant. He couldn't let his mind go there. Maybe some part of him thought that his team was safe now because they had the bad guy. He had never even considered the possibility of finding only one teammate at the house.

His team leader remained stoic as ever. "I don't want to shoot you George, but I will if I have to. We don't even have a hostage to worry about."

Morgan watched as a grin spread slowly over the suspect's face. George glanced down at the body on the floor behind him. "Are you sure about that?"

Morgan felt his entire body relax as relief flooded through him. It appeared that, at least as far as George knew, both agents were still alive. He burned to know who was lying on the floor in front of them but he kept his gun pointed squarely at the suspect. _I hope its Reid. _Morgan instantly felt guilty for the thought, even though he knew it stemmed from his certainty that Elle could take care of herself.

Beside him, Hotch tried once again to reason with the Unsub. "If you come with us we can talk about this. We can make sure people get a chance to see your artwork." Morgan knew his boss was taking a gamble, but it was a pretty good one given their preliminary profile.

Unfortunately the gamble failed as Hotch's words had the exact opposite effect of what he indented. George became visibly agitated as soon as the artwork was mentioned and started ranting and raving. "You think I'm crazy, just like everyone else. You don't see the beauty in my art. Nobody sees the beauty of my art. He just had to go and ruin it, trying to break art down to a science."

"Who ruined what?" asked Hotch, hoping to calm George down. George started waving the gun he held around in the air instead, the knife in his other hand seemingly forgotten.

-PTTR-PTTR-PTTR-

The first thing Reid noticed as he slowly rejoined the world of the living was a stiff pain in his shoulders. Struggling to get into a more comfortable position he realized that he couldn't move his arms which were stuck high above his head for some reason. With his returning awareness came the realization that his entire body ached. Reid attempted to call up a memory of what had happened but his mind was still too fuzzy so he decided to take stock of his faculties instead.

Starting with his toes he moved his muscles one by one, checking that everything still worked. Finding no permanent damage he struggled to open his eyes. He felt his eyelids flutter once, twice before he finally wrenched them open.

Blinking rapidly he realized that he was in complete, impenetrable darkness. Even as his mind registered the thought he felt his breathing speed up as his heart began to race. A wave of anxiety washed over him.

Reid soon began to feel lightheaded as he struggled to control his breathing. Before panic could overtake him completely he recalled some deep breathing exercises he had recently read about_. Breath in from the diaphragm. Hold for a count of ten. Breath out to a count of ten._ Repeating the exercise over and over, he gradually regained control.

"Hello?" he called out when his anxiety had been reduced to a tolerable level. He cringed inwardly at how weak his voice sounded. Reid nearly jumped out of his skin when his call was answered by a moan. He figured that whoever had made the sound was nearby so he tried again. "Are you okay?" His voice sounded steadier this time.

The reply, when it came, was so faint that Reid nearly missed it. "No."

Reid was trying to think of something comforting to say when he heard the sound of a door opening somewhere above him. Whoever else was with him clearly heard it too as Reid heard whimpering somewhere nearby.

The sound of the door opening was soon followed by heavy footsteps on a staircase. Less than 30 seconds later Reid heard a click and light flooded the room. Reid cringed and his eyelids slammed shut as the harsh light stung his eyes. After a count of ten, Reid slowly reopened his eyes, blinking rapidly as he adjusted to the light.

When his sight cleared and he could finally see again his FBI training took over and he quickly surveyed his surroundings. The first thing he saw in front of him was a handsome, dark-haired man who looked vaguely familiar though Reid couldn't immediately place him. Beyond the man a young woman stood almost hanging from a hook above her. From the bruises and cuts all over her body it was clear that she had been beaten and tortured. Glancing around the room he saw dozens of hooks similar to the one he assumed he himself was hanging from.

Speaking of hanging, Reid realized that his wrists were beginning to ache. Feeling cold metal he figured that he had been handcuffed, though far more tightly then protocol dictated. He couldn't have been handcuffed for that long though, or else the man had removed the cuffs at some point, because Reid's fingers were only just beginning to feel numb from the restricted circulation.

After staring at Reid for a minute the man walked over to the woman and began to unhook her arms. As soon as the man came near her the woman's whimpering became louder and she began to struggle against her bonds. "Take me instead." Reid heard himself say, surprised by the assertiveness in his voice.

The man half turned towards Reid and smiled at him, yet it was a smile that promised nothing good. "Oh your time will come Dr. Reid" he said before turning back to his ministrations. Dragging the woman upstairs he took moment to flick off the light, plunging the doctor once again into darkness.

-PTTR-PTTR-PTTR-

"He ruined it. HE did." George continued ranting. Morgan followed his gaze to the floor where Reid's discarded messenger bag lay. As soon as George pointed the gun towards the bag for emphasis Morgan saw his opportunity and took it. Moving as fast as lightning Morgan tackled the man to the ground, using his left arm to push the man's knife hand out to the side so that he wouldn't end up with the knife impaled in his chest.

When the two of them hit the ground George's gun went flying while Morgan managed to hold onto his weapon. Repositioning himself so his knee was in the suspects chest, Morgan squeezed the man's left hand until the man dropped the knife, the gun in his own right hand trained on the suspect's face all the while. He grabbed the knife in his left hand and tossed it to the side, out of the suspect's reach.

When Detective Stanfield came forward and trained his weapon on the man Morgan pushed himself up dragging the suspect with him and turning him around in the process. Pushing George up against the wall Morgan yanked the man's hands behind his back and cuffed them there. Morgan rapidly searched the suspect's pockets for other weapons before handing him off to the uniformed officers. He hadn't even noticed the officers had joined them until that moment.

While Morgan followed the officers in escorting Mr. Stanley to the police cruiser, Hotch ran up to the body. It was Elle. Aside from a bloody gash on her head he couldn't see any obvious signs of injury. Putting two fingers on her neck he checked her pulse: It was steady. "She's still alive! I need a medic" he yelled into the mic secured to the inside of his wrist.

Pulling out his cell phone he rapidly dialed a familiar number. "We found Elle but she's injured. We're waiting on the medics right now. Morgan and I have to go back to the station but I need you to go to the hospital."

"Right. On it." JJ replied before hanging up.

-PTTR-PTTR-PTTR-

Dragging the woman behind him he ignored the posts this time, choosing instead to shove her down on the love seat in front of the TV. Grabbing a knife off a tray that stood in the corner he sat down next to her. The woman tried to move herself as far away from him as possible but the couch was small and he just moved closer until he was pressed up right against her and there was nowhere else for her to go.

He began to talk to her. "You are a lucky girl." the man informed her. "I was going to kill you yesterday but then that call came in. I was going to kill you today but I've changed my mind. You see we have a game to play." He said all this with a sickly sweet voice and a smile that betrayed his less than sweet intentions.

He had fully intended to kill her today. He meant to kill her before he even taking anyone else but HE had changed his mind. When the doctor had tried to stick up for this woman he didn't even know the man had realized that he could have a lot more fun by leaving her alive.

In fact the man the man decided against even harming her for the moment, figuring it would be better to save her strength. He got up and returned the knife to the silver tray before sitting back down next to her. The psychological torture of being near him was enough for the moment. She would live... for now.

-PTTR-PTTR-PTTR-

The medics had finally arrived. Morgan led them inside to the back of the house where Elle lay, still unconscious. After checking her vitals the paramedics transferred her onto the stretcher and wheeled her out to the ambulance.

After watching the paramedics take their unconscious teammate away Morgan turned back to Hotch, a somber look on his face. "The officers finished searching the house. Reid's not here."

Arriving at the emergency room JJ had flashed her badge and ordered the nurse on duty to alert her as soon as Elle was brought in. Elle had been brought in on a stretcher 20 minutes after she talked to the nurse but that was the last JJ had heard.

Checking her watch she figured about an hour had passed since they brought Elle in. She was eager to hear news of her friend and even more eager to get back to the station and find out what had happened. She was about to step out and call Hotch when a doctor entered the waiting room and called out "Elle Greenaway."

JJ hurried up to the man and flashed her credentials. "Special Agent Jennifer Jareau with the Behavioral Analysis Unit. Elle Greenaway is one of our agents."

The doctor eyed the FBI badge before answering. "I know. Agent Greenaway is awake now and has been asking for her team. She's just down the hall in room 118. You can go ahead and see her."

JJ hurried down the hall and knocked on the door to room 118. "Come in" she heard Elle call from within. JJ let herself in.

"How are you feeling?" she asked the other woman.

"Like I've been run over by a truck." Elle replied. Despite her pain she gave a small smile which JJ returned.

"Do you know when you'll get out of here?"

Before Elle could reply the doctor JJ had talked to earlier walked in. "Agent Greenaway we have the last of your test results. If your friend would give us some privacy– "

"No. It's all right if she stays." Elle quickly interrupted him. After everything that had gone on she didn't really want to be left alone with a man she didn't know.

"Well as you know we stitched up a gash on your head. You don't appear to have a concussion but you may experience a mild headache over the next couple of days. We also bandaged a burn on your back. It looks like you were hit with a taser but there should be no lasting damage. Your blood tests came back clean except for trace amounts of propofol. As soon as you sign the discharge papers you're free to go."

"Thank you doctor. " Elle replied. Getting up from the bed she headed for the administration desk. JJ trailed after her. They were both eager to get back to the station and find out what had happened.

-PTTR-PTTR-PTTR-

Hotch stood at the viewing window watching as they left George Stanley to sit and stew. The man was calm. Far too calm for a man possibly facing multiple murder counts and definitely facing two counts of abducting a federal agent. As much as he desperately wanted to be out there searching for his missing agent he knew that George Stanley was Reid's best chance.

He turned away from the glass when Morgan walked in carrying a file. "What more do we have on George Stanley." he asked.

"Garcia began digging as soon as she realized the GPS coordinates on Elle's phone matched the location of George Stanley's house." Morgan informed his boss. "Turns out George Stanley has a brother who lives in the area. Local PD are bringing him in now."

"Why didn't this turn up in the earlier background check?"

"Because it turns out the younger brother was taken by child services and placed with a foster family when George was about 10. The foster family eventually adopted him so Richard Stanley became Richard Astor. "

"Anything else?"

"Yah. Garcia called. She's waiting on the line in the conference room." Morgan led the way into the conference room where they had set up shop. After getting the OK from Hotch he pressed the button bringing the call off hold. "Hey babygirl, tell us what you've got."

"You first. Tell me you found them. Tell me my family is safe." Garcia sounded almost frantic on the phone. Morgan regretted not telling her more when he answered the call.

"Elle's safe. She's getting checked out at the hospital right now but JJ's with her. She was stable when the medics– "

"What about Reid" Garcia interrupted. They two men could almost hear the quirky technical analyst blush when she realized she had interrupted her boss.

"He wasn't at the house but we think George Stanley knows where he is. The best thing you can do for him right now is tell us what you found."

"Right sir. Sorry sir." They could still hear the worry in Garcia's voice. "It seems our boy George fancies himself an artist. I found some articles in the local paper about him from around 10 years ago. People seemed to think he was pretty talented but something happened and he took a turn for the crazy. When he started using human blood as a medium interest in his work dried up and people sort of forgot about him."

"Thanks Garcia" Hotch replied. "Do some more digging and see if you can find out what triggered the change in his art."

"On it, sir. Just bring my baby boy home safe. Garcia out." With those last words the technical analyst disconnected the call. There was something ominous about the dial tone that followed.

Morgan turned to face his boss. "You know Hotch there's something that has been bugging me about this guy. He didn't say he had Reid. He specifically said he knew where Reid was. Hotch, I think he might have a partner. I think the partner has Reid."

Morgan gave the younger profiler a somber look. "Morgan, I need to make a call. I think we need Gideon."

**So the unidentified man did know both agents names the entire time. I just didn't want him to think of Reid in more intimate terms until after he had addressed him by name. And I know that Elle would most likely have a concussion from being knocked out by the unsub (he was crazy and his partner took all the drugs) but I couldn't in good conscious allow her into the field with a concussion and I still need her. And Gideon will be joining this story next chapter because there is no way that the team would not call him in and that he would not come if Reid is in trouble. Anyways thanks for reading and please take the time to review!**


	6. Chapter 6

**I apologize for the delay in publishing this chapter. I went back and reviewed some of the early episodes before writing the parts with Gideon in them. Despite my best efforts there is still a lot of jumping around in time between different people's points of view so I hope it all makes sense. I wanted to get this chapter out now because early access to a game I pre-ordered begins tommorow so the next chapter might take a little longer. I'm trying to get as much of it written as possible today but apparently I'm required to attend my own birthday celebration. Anyways enjoy this chapter. Thank you for all the reviews/favorites/follows so far. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds nor any of the Criminal Minds characters. I do however own George Stanley and the soon to be named "unidentified man" **

He picked up the phone after the 3rd ring. "No one was supposed to call me. I told you I needed some time off. "

"Hello to you too" replied Hotch. Despite the dire nature of the call he couldn't help but poke fun at Jason's surliness.

"I told you I was going to the cabin. This is my escape. You weren't supposed to call–"

"Gideon." Hotch tried to interrupt the older man but Supervisory Special Agent Jason Gideon had had a tough year and didn't really want to hear it.

"You guys managed 6 months without me in the field, now you can't you even manage one case."

"Gideon!" Hotch nearly yelled into the phone. After pausing a second and hearing nothing on the other end of the line Hotch got down to the real reason he had called. "Listen we need you on this case. Reid's in trouble."

Gideon gave a sigh. "I'll be there are soon as I can."

-PTTR-PTTR-PTTR-

As soon as he got into his car the man turned on his accessories and tuned his radio to the local news station. After listening for a couple of minutes he was surprised and angry to hear not a single word about the FBI kid he had kidnapped. Slamming his hands into the steering wheel he began to rant even though he was alone in the vehicle.

"This is all your fault Georgie. If you had just kept off that stupid website the FBI would never have closed in on you so fast. You can't do anything right. You couldn't even take care of that stupid female agent."

Slamming his fist into the steering wheel again he knew he would have to take care of everything himself. Fishing a pair of latex gloves out of his pocket he pulled them on before ripping at sheet of paper off a notepad he kept in the glove department. After hastily scrawling a note on the sheet of paper he got out of the car and went to the back of the vehicle. Opening the trunk of the car he stuffed the note in between the corpse's teeth before slamming the trunk shut again. His package ready, he returned to the driver's seat and started the ignition.

He would deal with the other agent later. It was time for a delivery.

-PTTR-PTTR-PTTR-

"What do you mean you don't know how long he's been missing." The passengers around Gideon shifted uncomfortably as they couldn't help but overhear the old profiler. Gideon, on his part, didn't care. He was fuming at the news he'd received. Neither Reid nor Elle would have gone back to the hotel without checking in while out in the field. One bad judgment call and they were left with a 12 hour time window within which the attack could have taken place.

While Gideon paused to listen to what Hotch had to say a nervous looking flight attendant approached him. "Um... sir you can't use a cell phone on board. I'm...uh...going to have to ask you to turn it off."

Gideon glared at the woman a second before fishing his credentials out of his pocket. "Official FBI business" he grunted.

"Sorry sir" the young woman managed to squeak before she fled down the aisle.

-PTTR-PTTR-PTTR-

"All right, someone will meet you at the airport." Hotch hit end on his phone and walked back into the conference room where Morgan and Detective Stanfield waited.

"So I just got off the phone with Gideon. As you might have expected he wasn't too happy to hear that the last time we heard from Reid was yesterday night. He also told me his plane will be landing at Knox County Regional Airport in about 3 hours and I think he may have scared a young flight attendant into quitting her job."

"Sounds like Gideon" Morgan commented.

Before Gideon had called they had been discussing whether George Stanley's bloody artwork was a manifestation of an underlying obsession with blood and if that obsession would have been strong enough for him to actively seek out a reliable source. Now Hotch was set on steering the conversation back in that direction. "If George Stanley was in his late 30s when he started using human blood it's highly unlikely he started killing at that time."

"Unless something retarded either his mental age or behavioral age. " countered Morgan. "We know he doesn't have a criminal record but he could have been institutionalized at some point."

"I think we need more information." Hotch declared.

"Information is my middle name sir." At the sound of Garcia's voice all three men turned to look at the FBI laptop sitting on the conference room table. The laptop Reid had set up yesterday. At some point during the conversation the tech analyst had established a video connection and her familiar face was now on-screen. Despite her cheerful greeting the two profilers in the room could see the strain Reid's abduction was putting on her.

"Have you come across any indication of the source of the human blood Stanley was using in his paintings?"

"No sir but–"

"Have you managed to find anything that happened 10 years ago that would have triggered the erratic change in his behaviour?"

"No sir but just listen for a second. I've been looking into Mr. Stanley's medical history and I found something interesting regarding his psychiatric history. Don't ask me how I know this because you really don't want to know."

"We'll talk about it later." said Hotch. Morgan recognized the stern disapproval in the tone of his voice. Whenever Hotch used that tone of voice it usually spelled trouble but Morgan hoped that his boss would be lenient with the technical analyst, especially if the information helped find Reid.

"Turns out when he was 15 George Stanley tried to check himself into a nearby mental hospital complaining of hearing voices. The hospital turned him away because they thought he was faking. That was in–

"1973" Elle finished for her as she walked into the conference room. "That was right after David Rosenhan published his article 'On Being sane in insane places' detailing an experiment where 7 sane individuals covertly gained access to 12 psychiatric hospitals. After the article was published hospital administrators were on the look-out for non-existent imposters and legitimate patients were turned away. Reid was telling me about it just the other day. Speaking of which why isn't he hear telling you this himself?"

"Elle... Reid wasn't at the house where we found you."

JJ followed Elle in just in time to catch what Morgan said. Some part of her had to ask, had to make sure she understood what her ears had heard. "We can't find Reid?"

-PTTR-PTTR-PTTR-

Reid's captor had returned the woman some time ago though Reid wasn't sure exactly how long it had been. The windowless room and endless darkness in which they were held made accurate timekeeping impossible but judging by his internal states Reid felt he had been there less than 24 hours. His wrists had long since gone numb while the rest of his body still ached.

When they heard the door opening Reid tensed up and the woman began to whimper again. Although the woman hadn't appeared to have been harmed physically last time the UNSUB had taken her that didn't mean that she hadn't been psychologically tortured. Reid was determined to keep the UNSUB away from her no matter what.

When the man approached him rather than the woman Reid was relieved that he wouldn't have to put his plan into action. Reid couldn't get suspects riled up the way Morgan and Gideon could. _I wonder if he even knows I'm missing. _All thoughts of his mentor fled from his mind as the man approached.

Reid had promised himself he wouldn't let his captor see him struggle but when he saw what the man had his hands his upper body began to thrash this way and that trying to get as far away from the man as possible. He stopped his struggles though as soon as he felt cold steel pressed against his neck.

"That's better Spencer." the man said before he proceeded to place a blindfold over Reid's eyes which he tied tightly. Unhooking Reid's arms from above him he actually undid the cuff on one of Reid's wrists but only so that he could cuff the young man's hands behind his back. The continued presence of the knife at his throat provided extra assurance for Reid's good behavior.

"Move" commanded the UNSUB and Reid felt the cold metal of a gun barrel pressed against his back. As Reid walked forward the man walked with him, pressing the gun firmly with one hand while using the other to both guide and control the blindfolded agent.

Reid kept walking until the man ordered him to stop. Opening the door the UNSUB shoved Reid in. "You have two minutes" the man told him before he slammed the door shot.

Reid walked slowly forward until he bumped into something fairly low to the ground. Turning around so that he could use his hands to feel it out he realized it was a toilet. Awkwardly because of the handcuffs he managed to pull down his pants enough so that he could go to the bathroom.

Reid had managed to get his boxer's back up but was having trouble finding his pants when the unsub opened the door. His two minutes were up. The captive genius could feel himself turn red at being caught in such a compromising position.

Reid heard footsteps and then suddenly felt the UNSUB's hands on him. Reid's heart started instantly racing as his fight or flight response kicked in. Had Reid not been blindfolded the Unsub would have seen Reid's pupils become completely dilated. Before Reid could move to get away from the man he had pulled up Reid's pants and the barrel of the gun was once again pressed against Reid's back.

The unsub guided Reid up the staircase and through the door. Unable to see the steps before him Reid tripped about 4 steps up and with his hands bound behind him he could do nothing to catch his fall. Reid went face first into the wooden staircase and he felt wetness dripping down his face as his nose began to bleed. An ache in his jaw told him he would probably have a pretty nasty bruise there soon. The UNSUB had roughly yanked the young doctor back to his feet, admonishing him to be careful.

Upstairs the UNSUB dropped the gun from Reid's back and grabbed his arms by the handcuffs instead. The man dragged him by the cuffs until he pushed him into a chair. First the man used some sort of straps to bind the agent's legs to the legs of the chair. Then he uncuffed his hands and used more straps to bind his wrists to the arms of the chair. From the feel of the straps Reid guessed that they might be leather. As soon as he finished the work Reid heard footsteps as the man walked away.

Reid waited in silence, his breathing coming more rapidly as his mind started to delve into all the possibilities of what the UNSUB might do. When he heard the UNSUB return Reid thought his heart might beat right out of his chest. He was close to a full panic attack when the blindfold was ripped off his eyes.

Reid blinked a few times as brightness replaced darkness and when he could see again his eyes went wide at what he saw: the woman before him, wearing only her underclothes with her arms and legs bound to posts on either side of her, forcing her spread eagle. The UNSUB stood next to her with deadly-looking knife in his hand.

"Now Dr. Reid, we're going to play a little game."

-PTTR-PTTR-PTTR-

Morgan and Hotch stood before the viewing window, once again staring at George Stanley through the glass. When Hotch moved towards the door to the interrogation room Morgan stopped him. "Hotch, let me do it."

With a concentrated stare the unit chief looked his agent over. "Are you sure you can keep your head cool?"

"Yah Hotch. I'll admit I'm angry but I know anger won't help Reid. I have to do this. Man I need to do this."

After looking Morgan in the eye and seeing the determination there the team leader somewhat reluctantly nodded his consent. "If I think you're losing control I will step in. I can promise you that."

Morgan brushed past his boss and pushed open the door to the interrogation room. Crossing his arms in front of him he stood staring at Stanley for a minute before finally taking the seat across from the man.

"The way I see it George, you're in a whole lot of trouble. Right now you're facing two counts of kidnapping a federal agent. That's a possible life sentence right there. If one of those agents dies? I'll personally make sure you get the needle. "

George Stanley just stared, unblinking, completely unaffected by Morgan's threats. The angry agent continued anyways. "Tell me where the other agent is and you might even get parole someday."

When his words once again produced no reaction Morgan decided to try a different tactic. He stood up, placed his hands on the table and leaned forward so that his face was mere inches away from the man he was interrogating. "Where is Dr. Reid." he said, his voice like cold steel.

Instead of reacting, Stanley blinked once, yawned, and asked "Who?".

"The male agent you kidnapped" spat Morgan. "Where is he?"

"Oh" replied Stanley with a giggle. The completely unexpected reaction set Morgan back on is heals. What Stanley said next stunned the experienced agent and made him literally take a step back.

"He's dead. I killed him you know."

-PTTR-PTTR-PTTR-

All remaining members of the BAU team sat in the conference room along with Detective Stanfield. Even Garcia was present via video conference. It was Garcia who had retrieved the video feed from the interrogation room at the station and was now replaying it for everyone.

Even though they had heard second hand what George Stanley had said JJ and Elle still looked stunned at hearing it firsthand. "Play it again" ordered Hotch when the last word had faded.

"Sir?"

Hotch was about to repeat the order when an officer knocked on the open door of the conference room to announce his present. Every one turned towards the newcomer. "We just got a call from a local reporter claiming to have gotten a package that the FBI might want to check out."

Hotch sighed. "Elle, come with me to check it out. Detective Stanfield can you send an officer to pick up Agent Gideon from the airport? His flight should be landing soon."

"I'll pick him up myself" volunteered the detective.

"Are you sure you don't want to check out this package with us?" Hotch was clearly surprised by the offer.

"Nah. The reporter asked for the FBI. Might not even be connected to our case. I'll pick up your agent and fill him in on the latest." Hotch thanked the detective.

Hotch and Elle set off in one of the SUVs for the office building the local paper worked out of. While Morgan and JJ stayed back at the station in case Hotch needed them elsewhere, Detective Stanfield set off in a department vehicle to pick up Agent Gideon.

The 20 minute drive to Knox County Regional Airport passed uneventfully. The agent's flight had just landed when the detective arrived and despite having never met the man Stanfield picked out the special agent easily. Jason Gideon's photo had been all over the papers a while back after Adrian Bale had blown up a warehouse and murdered 6 agents who Gideon had sent in.

When Gideon approached Detective Stanfield stepped up and introduced himself. "Agent Gideon? I'm Detective Stanfield. I've been working with your team." He quickly shook hands with the man then led him outside to his car.

In the car Gideon wanted to know everything that had happened in the past 4 hours since he had received the file. Detective Stanfield took a deep breath before dropping the bombshell. "Agent Morgan questioned the suspect shortly before I left to pick you up. According to George Stanfield Dr. Reid is already dead."

**Thank you for reading. I would appreciate it if anyone would take the time to review. Also I apologize for the way I left the scene between Reid and the unsub and for George Stanley "killing" Reid. The scene with the unsub was supposed to end at an entirely different point but I got carried away when I started writing the scene and then I just couldn't resist leaving that cliff hanger. As to what George Stanley said, I had originally planned to have him admit to all the murders instead but then I realized he has no idea how many murders there actually are ;) **


	7. Chapter 7

**I finished this chapter far quicker than I expected to. Mostly because the writing just came. I have to say though a couple of scenes took an... unexpected turn. This is also my longest chapter yet by quite a bit. I decided I should make a slight note of the fact that I interchange behaviour/behavior. It's because I am a Canadian studying behavioural science technology but writing about the Behavioral analysis unit. Just thought I would explain. Also I apologize for the length of this chapter. I sort of got carried away. Enjoy**

**Warning: This chapter contains mentions of drug use and a drug overdose. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or the Criminal Minds characters. I do own Detective Stanfield, and the unidentified man. I also own George Stanley though I am definitely starting to question whether I really want to take credit for creating the UNSUBS ;)**

Gideon burst into the police station with Detective Stanfield hot on his heels. Scanning the bullpen, he spotted Morgan just coming out of the break-room. "Morgan, you're with me." he ordered before heading right back out.

Morgan met him out in the parking lot 2 minutes later. In the SUV Gideon told him they were going over to the crime scene. He explained on the way. "I want to get a look at George Stanley's house before I talk to Elle. That way her account won't cloud what the house can tell us."

They arrived at the house a short time later. Gideon stopped for a second in the driveway to stare at the black SUV still parked there before heading up the driveway towards the house. Digging a key out of his pocket he broke the evidence seal before unlocking the front door. The local crime scene unit and the evidence retrieval team had done some preliminary processing but had tried to leave the scene intact as much as possible for the profilers.

Upon entering Morgan led Gideon to the back of the house where they had found Elle. Gideon stood in the center of the living room for a second examining everything: Discarded papers on the floor, Reid's messenger bag, and a copy of retired profiler David Rossi's latest book that obviously belonged to Reid.

"I think we need to try and do a reenactment of what happened here." he told Morgan before heading back to the front door. "Reid and Elle show up . They knock on the front door."

Working in tandem, Morgan took on the role of the unsub. "I open the door and you introduce yourself as an FBI agent."

Going with it Gideon took on the role of the victim. _Reid isn't a victim._ "I tell you I need to ask you a few questions and you invite me in."

"Which you accept because it's a perfectly natural thing to do. I don't want FBI agents standing on my front porch. I lead you to the living room in the back of the house." The two agents walked the path back towards the living room.

"I tell you to take a seat. Maybe I ask you if you want something to drink."

"Drugging the drinks would be one way to subdue two FBI agents at once. But I don't see any glasses lying around. Given the state he left their belongings in I doubt he would have cleaned them up."

"There's one thing that's bothering me about this. Both during the takedown and when I interrogated him George Stanley couldn't even go two minutes without displaying erratic behavior. If he had answered the door, Elle and Reid were bound to be suspicious."

"So somebody else answered the door. The partner was already in the house."

-PTTR-PTTR-PTTR-

"Now Dr Reid, we're going to play a little game." Reid's hazel eyes went as wide as saucers as his mind registered the words. After a couple of years with the BAU and all the cases he had studied he knew academically that it was never a good thing when an UNSUB wanted to play. In that moment though he knew it instinctively.

Ignoring Reid's reaction the man continued. "For now I'm just going to ask you some questions. As long as I'm convinced your telling me the truth I won't harm you or the girl. If I think you're lying... well you don't have to be a genius to figure that one out. So what do you say Dr. Reid."

"I–" Reid tried to answer but the words came out as little more than rasp. Until he tried to talk Reid hadn't really noticed how thirsty he was or how long it had been since he last had something to drink.

"How careless of me" said the man upon hearing the young doctor's sad attempt at communication. Leaving the woman's side, he disappeared through a doorway directly opposite the one leading to the basement, returning a moment later with a glass of what appeared to be water.

The man approached Reid and lifted the glass to his lips but stopped when he saw the wary look he was giving the contents. "Relax Dr. Reid, it's just ordinary tap water. If I put anything in it how would we have any fun. "

Unable to refute the man's logic Reid allowed the glass to be held up to his lips and drank greedily when the UNSUB tipped the water into his mouth. He soon started spluttering though as the man wasn't pausing to let Reid breath. He almost started to panic thinking the man was trying to drown him but the stream of water stopped just before he choked on it.

His throat no longer dry, Reid tried once again to answer the UNSUB. "I can't really win. Even if I answer your questions 100 % truthfully you could just claim you thought I was lying and do whatever you like." Reid glanced at the almost naked woman in front of him before finishing. "You're clearly a sadist."

Instead of getting angry like Reid expected the man just chuckled at his words. "Dr. Reid you act as if you have any choice in the matter. You could choose not to answer my questions, in which case I won't touch you. No, I'll just torture the woman in your stead. It's actually your fault she's here."

Reid froze up at the man's words. He didn't know exactly what the UNSUB meant in blaming him but he still felt guilty nonetheless. He was also starting to feel off: Reid could feel his heart racing as if he had just drank an entire pot of coffee. He shot the unsub an accusing stare.

"Ooops, turns out I might have slipped something into the water after all. Don't worry though, it's just a little stimulant to liven you up a bit. It shouldn't cause any permanent damage... I hope."

As the stimulant took effect Reid's normally fast brain began working at a mile a minute. He jumped from idea to idea as his thoughts raced. For a moment he actually thought he had found the cure for schizophrenia but then it was gone, as quick as it had come.

The man snapped his fingers in front of the doctor's face to catch his attention. "I know you guys are in town investigating George Stanley's art. Tell me everything the FBI knows."

But the doctor was off in his own world now, his mind spinning out of control. Soon his whole body began to twitch. The man frowned when he saw he wasn't getting through to his captive. Pulling a loaded syringe out of his back pocket he jabbed it into the agent's arm and pressed the plunger home. As the sedative hit Reid's eyes became more focused and the twitching began to lessen.

Angry at the missed opportunity to question the agent the man turned around and stabbed the woman viciously in the thigh. Her arms and legs still bound to the posts, there was nothing she could do to stop the blow.

The woman's scream somehow managed to pierce Reid's drug-addled state. Along with the scream came the profound knowledge that it was somehow all his fault. And then there was nothing.

-PTTR-PTTR-PTTR-

The town was so small that Hotch was pulling the SUV curbside in front of the office of the local paper within 15 minutes. When he moved to get out Elle threw her hand up to stop him. Rather than saying anything Agent Hotchner merely quirked an eyebrow at his agent's unusual behaviour.

Elle answered his unsaid question rapidly. "Hotch, how sure are you about this reporter?" she practically blurted out.

Her question earned her another raised eyebrow. "I'm not really sure what you're asking Elle."

"Look, how often do reporters actually call us when they receive something from an unsub. Usually we just get scooped and find out when the rest of the world does." The look of concern on Elle's face when she asked the question was genuine.

"Look Elle this is a small town paper. While big city papers may be all about 'the scoop' no one expects a small town local paper to make their career. Some of these reporters aren't looking for a scoop and with a killer on the loose it's their friends, neighbors and they themselves who are in danger."

Placated by her boss's reasoning Elle opened her door signaling the conversation was at an end. Hotch followed suite and together they entered the building and located which floor housed the paper's office.

When they entered the office they were greeted by a tired looking grey-haired secretary who directed them to a tiny office in the back. When they reached the little office Hotch took charge and knocked on the door.

The knock was answered by a young, petite, blond-haired, blue-eyed woman. "I'm Agent Hotchner this is Agent Greenaway, we're from the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit. You called saying you had something we might want to see?"

"I'm Kaila Cartwright" replied the reporter as she shook hands with both agents. "If you will just follow me this way."

Kaila led the agents to the door of a much larger conference room to the front of the office near where they had come in. She stopped just in front of the closed, frosted glass door and eyed the agents. "Someone broke in sometime this morning while everyone was out of the office and left us a 'package'. At least that's what the individual called it in the note."

With that Kaila pushed open the door to the conference room revealing the gruesome surprise within: a body so badly cut and beaten it was almost impossible to tell whether the individual was male or female. The corpse had been laid out in the center off the large conference table that took up most of the room. Beside the body lay a note that looked as if it had been crumpled up then hastily smoothed out again.

"Was this exactly as you found?" Hotch asked as he stepped forward to examine the note.

Though her boss was absorbed with examining the scene, Elle saw the female reporter blush. "No" Kaila replied, "the note was stuck in between the things teeth. I was curious so I fished it out."

Hotch frowned deeply at the woman's words. He didn't scold her though. Instead he grabbed a pair of blue evidence gloves from his pocket and slid them on. Even though the note itself was already contaminated, rendering it possibly useless in a court of law, any physical evidence left on the note could still be useful in narrowing down the suspect pool. He made a mental note to obtain elimination samples from Kaila before he left.

His gloves finally on, he grabbed the note off the table and held it up to the light so he could read it:

_I hope you like this package I left you. I figure it's only a matter of time before the FBI realizes they have the wrong guy. Georgie isn't sane enough to pull this off. They plead with the public to come forward with information on people who are missing yet they hush it up when the missing is one of their own. Let them try to hush it up now._

_ -PTTR_

_P.S. Agent Reid is still alive... for now_

Hotchner read the note over twice before handing it silently to Elle, who had pulled on her own pair of gloves by then. The words had left him slightly sick to his stomach. They confirmed Morgan's theory about a partner.

Kaila tried to question them about their missing teammate but Hotch just brushed her off and left the building. Elle exited shortly after him but not before snapping a pic of the note with her phone and leaving instructions for the reporter to contact their communications liaison.

When Elle left the building she found her boss on the phone. It sounded like he was calling for a crime scene unit and leaving instructions for them to print everyone in the office 'for elimination purpose'.

After a second phone call to inform Morgan about the latest developments they headed back to the station. They would send some Uniformed officers over later to interview the rest of the employees at the office. Hotch knew he was doing a sloppy job at profiling the dump site but he figured they would get more valuable information once the Medical examiner had a chance to examine the body anyways. On the way back to the station Elle sent the photo of the note to Garcia.

-PTTR-PTTR-PTTR-

The man was angry. He had made a mistake and he rarely made mistakes. He had misjudged just how emancipated the kid was and had unintentionally overdosed the agent when he was just trying loosen his tongue a bit.

Fortunately, he had the foresight to prepare a syringe of lorazepam just in case. The sedative would calm the young man's racing heart and help decrease the chance of the overdose causing seizures. He wouldn't be able to enjoy his time with the young doctor if he started to seize and developed brain damage, or worse died of a heart attack.

The downside was that between the sedative and coming down off the stimulant overdose his newest victim wouldn't be cognizant again for hours at least. There was no sense in sticking around the entire time. He had been planning to call in sick to work but with the kid out of commission he figured he might as well work the shift. He could play with the him more later.

After checking to make sure his captives were still secure in the basement the man made his way to a giant industrial grade walk-in freezer that had been installed a while ago at the back of the house. Opening the freezer he hauled a body off the shelf and onto a dolly he always kept nearby for just such an occasion. Using the dolly he dragged the corpse outside and after much heaving and swearing he managed to get the frozen corpse into the back of his car.

Once the body was safely stashed in the vehicle he pulled something out of his pocket and pinned it to the dead guys shirt. Slamming the trunk closed once again he made a mental note to thaw his meat first next time. Then he hopped into the driver's seat, turned on the ignition and set off on his commute into the city.

It was actually a good thing he decided to leave early. He had another package to deliver before work.

-PTTR-PTTR-PTTR-

Morgan and Gideon decided to try the re-enactment again, this time using the assumption that the second unsub, rather than George, must have answered the door.

"Elle and Reid were looking to interview specific people from the list. So they would have asked for George Stanley after identifying themselves." said Gideon. They were standing at the front door again.

"Let's say I'm the UNSUB. If I open the door and you ask for George do I pretend to be George or do I use some sort of ruse?" asked Morgan.

"On one hand if you use a ruse like claiming to be a friend then I know there are two people in the house. On the other hand pretending to be George would mean you have to keep me occupied and rely on George to carry out the attack."

"Since it would definitely take some sort of blitz attack for me to take out both of you at the same time." finished Morgan.

"So most likely you used some sort of ruse to get me inside and then sent George down to distract me while you came up with a plan." Morgan went to poke around upstairs while Gideon went to examine the chaos George and the UNSUB had left in the living room. Both men wore exam gloves, well aware that most of the scene had yet to be processed.

Crouching down Gideon began to sort through the mess that had been left on the floor. He quickly spotted some photographs that looked like they had been dropped by accident, having perhaps fallen from a file folder that the UNSUB had gathered up in haste. Turing some of the pictures over he recognized them as pictures from one of the bloody crime scenes.

Turning them all over he found that some of the pictures had notations all over them, almost as if someone had been trying to dissect the drawings. He recognized the hand writing in the margin as Reid's. _He must have been working on them on the way over._ Gideon couldn't tell at a glance which crime scene the pictures were from but he realized after a second that they had to be from the first crime scene since Reid and Elle were already canvassing. _He was already gone._

Gideon was still staring at the pictures trying to work out what Reid had been onto when Morgan came back downstairs. He was so deep in thought that Morgan had to call his name twice. "Hmmm?" said Gideon, finally looking up.

"I said there are enough uppers and downers in this guys medicine cabinet to stock a small pharmacy. All prescription though."

"So they could have been drugged but even IV drugs still take time to reach the brain. It also takes precision to inject, something he wouldn't be able to do on two people at once. " Gideon was thinking out loud.

"Well I didn't find anything else upstairs that could have been used to take them out." Morgan informed him.

"When we're all back at the station I want you to interview Elle."

Morgan helped Gideon pick through the rest of the stuff lying around. They found the keys to the SUV parked outside among the junk that he been tossed down next to the couch. In the corner they found Reid's credentials. There was still no sign of Reid's phone or his service weapon. He figured the UNSUB had taken them. Morgan knew Elle's phone and credentials had already been returned to her.

With nothing left to examine it was time to head back to the station. Morgan grabbed the keys to SUV from the pile as they headed out. They drove both government-issued vehicles back to the station with Morgan leading the way.

-PTTR-PTTR-PTTR-

Since word had leaked about a bunch of people being killed in town citizens had started turning up in droves worried about missing family members. JJ had quickly set up a tip-line for anyone who might have a lead that could help identify the victims and was manning one of the lines herself. She had just hung up with yet another frantic townsperson when an officer from the department approached her.

She didn't know the man's name but she recognized him from around the station so she offered him a smile saying "What can I do for you?"

The officer pointed towards the door where a pair of officers stood with a man who looked to be in his mid-40s. "Richard Astor is here waiting to speak with someone."

JJ sighed as she realized the rest of her team was still out in the field. She would have to be the one to interview him. Still she was experienced with talking to the families of victims. Talking to the family of a killer couldn't be that much different. And at least she would be doing something that might help Reid.

Walking up to where the 3 men stood she quickly introduced herself. "I'm Agent Jareau with the FBI. If you would follow me I would like to ask you a few questions."

Since the man wasn't a suspect instead of leading him to an interrogation room JJ led him to the conference room. She could have done the interview out in the bullpen but she figured Richard would be more comfortable talking in private. Especially if he didn't know his brother was in custody.

When they were both seated JJ started her questioning. "Do you know a man by the name of George Stanley?"

Richard looked startled by her question. "He's my biological brother but I haven't seen him since just before I was adopted. Linda abandoned me when I was 8 and then mom and dad adopted me two years later. Right before the adoption went through social services arranged a visit for us so we could say goodbye one last time."

JJ assumed that Linda must be Linda Stanley, George and Richard's biological mother. By the way he talked it was clear that Richard considered his adoptive parents his real family. "You never tried to track each other down as adults?"

"Nah" Richard replied, "My adoptive mother was more of a mother to me than Linda ever was. They had two other children as well. An older adopted son who became an older brother to me and a biological daughter who was born shortly before they adopted me. I had all the family I needed."

JJ could see tears in his eyes brought on by the memories that were being dredged up. Being abandoned by a parent couldn't have been easy, especially when she continued to raise his older brother. She would have to get Garcia to check out his story but she didn't see how much help he could be. Unless...

"Tell me about what George was like when he was younger."

-PTTR-PTTR-PTTR-

When Reid woke up some time later it was like coming out of a fog. He had no idea how much time had passed and he wasn't completely sure what had happened. When the memories came, they came in bits and pieces, and for someone who was used to remembering everything it was one of the scariest experiences in the world.

He definitely recalled both his heart and mind starting to race. He thought the man who held him captive had been trying to ask him something but he couldn't be sure. The man must have drugged him but judging by what he did remember the drugs didn't quite have the effect the UNSUB had intended.

That was when he remembered the scream. He couldn't quite be sure if the scream was real or something he had hallucinated. He wrenched his eyes open and realized that for once their captive had left the light on for them. When he saw the woman Reid desperately wished he hadn't.

The woman hung from the hook as she had the first time Reid saw her. The evidence of beatings and torture remained but something new had been added: a vicious stab wound to her thigh. The woman wasn't dead, Reid could tell that by the rise and fall of her chest, so the UNSUB must have treated the wound at some point. Despite his care though the woman had managed to break the wound open again and blood dripped slowly but steadily to land on the floor with a sound very much akin to a leaky tap.

Staring with horror at the garish wound Reid instinctively knew it to be the cause of the scream he remembered. Not a drug induced nightmare then but an actual, blood-curdling scream. He remembered his captors earlier promise: if he cooperated neither of them would be hurt. Clearly the girl HAD been hurt so it must be his fault. As he continued to stare at the wound waves of guilt rushed over him.

"I'm so sorry" he whispered. Reid didn't expect as response but acknowledging that he was at fault helped assuage his guilt a tiny bit.

"It's not your fault," replied the woman, lifting her head up to look the young man in the eye. "It's HIS fault. It's always his fault." Reid was surprised at how strong her voice was now despite her condition.

Looking into her eyes Reid saw the truth of her words. She didn't blame for what had happened but somehow that didn't quite stop the young man from blaming himself. But with the woman's next question all thoughts of guilt and blame flew from his head.

"I heard him call you Dr. Reid. Are you really a doctor?"

-PTTR-PTTR-PTTR-

The entire team, minus their technical analyst who was still back at Quantico, had gathered back in the conference room to discuss the case. They invited Detective Stanfield to join them but he declined, stating that it was a federal case now that two federal agents had been assaulted and one had been kidnapped.

They had gone over everything they had learned that day. It wasn't much. If the claims of the letter turned out to be true then the horrific scenes they had encountered when they first arrived in Camden were the work of a killing team. They figured that the man holding Reid did the actual killing while George used the blood to literally paint the town red. George had claimed he killed Reid but the letter claimed he was still alive.

They had Reid's analysis of the first blood pattern but no one could understand yet what he was working on. Besides without an analysis of the subsequent crime scene Reid probably hadn't got that far. Add in the fact that they seemingly already had the man who painted the designs in custody and it didn't seem like much more than a sad reminder of their missing teammate.

After Elle had sent Garcia a photo of the letter she had promised to have it forwarded to one of the bureau's linguistic experts. Reid was usually their go-to guy for linguistic analysis so they had to improvise.

JJ had added what George's brother Richard had given them about his childhood. It seemed that George was always a troubled child. He had often experienced inappropriate outbursts of emotion and never took criticism well. He was mostly a loner and the only person he had ever been close to was his little brother. From what Richard could remember, George did well in school on his good days but was often suspended in his bad days. Everything Richard recounted pointed to a brilliant but severely troubled, possibly psychotic, child.

They hoped that the body would provide more clues but the report from the medical examiner wouldn't be done until the next morning at the earliest. Morgan would interview George Stanley again in the morning after leaving him to spend the night in lock up.

After working through the evening, barely even pausing to order take-out, Hotch ordered everyone back to the hotel to get some rest.

While they all felt guilty about resting while Reid was in danger they knew there was literally nothing else they could do for the moment. They just didn't have enough information and it was killing them. Eventually they all settled down into a fitful sleep in their respective rooms.

It seemed to Hotch like he had just managed to fall asleep when his phone went off jolting him awake. Feeling around on his bedside table he found his phone and after punching talk he pressed it to his ear. "Agent Hotchner" he said, his voice laced with sleep.

After hearing what the voice on the other end of the line had to say all vestiges of sleep had fled. "We'll be there soon." He hit end on his phone and shoved it into his pocket. Grabbing his guns and credentials he went to wake the others.

He knocked on Morgan's door first. "Get dressed while I wake the others." Hotch ordered when the man opened the door. "Camden PD just called. They found another body."

**Thank you for taking the time to read. Please leave a review. Any criticism is actually helpful. I apologize for not naming the unidentified man yet. But the scene between Reid and the UNSUB didn't quite go how I planned it to. Just the idea of drugs popped into my head and stimulants and then somehow I ended up talking about a drug overdose. I fudged the timing a bit because between the overdose and the sedation Reid most likely would have been out of it for a day or two, but the story needed to progress so progress it shall. I thought about having the unsub force-feed him activated charcoal to absorb the drugs still in his stomach but I've actually experienced that stuff and just the thought of it makes me queazy. Anyways just thought I would share. If all goes well I should be able to post another chapter this week. **


	8. Chapter 8

**Well that this chapter took longer to write then I expected it to. Then I realized I had to hand in a preliminary report for 9:00 this morning and so my fan fic writing got put off while I worked on that :P. I'm pretty pleased with how this chapter came out all in all. The end of the chapter is a bit weird because I had originally planned to include more action between Reid and the UNSUB but that got pushed to the next chapter for two reasons a) It was getting to be quite long b) apparently I'm not as psychotic as I thought I was and need more time to think about the game. Morgan was also supposed to interview George Stanley again in this chapter and that's also been pushed. Couple of warnings: I decided to give Elle a mild traumatic brain injury which are difficult to diagnose and are often missed. Jane Doe (the other woman held captive by the UNSUB) will be dying in the next chapter, just a heads up. Anyways I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it.**

**Warning: Contains references to torture, mild adult language**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds nor the Criminal Minds characters. I own George Stanley and PTTR.**

It took about 15 minutes for the entire team to gather in the hotel lobby. After waking the others Hotch had taken the opportunity to go back to his room, change his shirt and tie and grab his suit jacket.

They split themselves between the 3 SUVs that were now parked in hotel parking lot. It was about a 10 minute drive to the dump site of the newest body. For any normal case Hotch might have only woken one other agent to go over to the dump site with him and let everyone else get some sleep but with Reid in danger and the distinct lack of information so far he knew his agents would never forgive him for leaving them out.

Arriving at the dump site they spotted an officer talking quietly with Detective Stanfield who waved them over. The body was even more gruesome then the last one that had been found. The individual's face had been completely smashed to a pulp and the bright red lines of open wounds stood stark against every bit of pale skin that wasn't covered.

Worse than the body itself was what was pinned to the corpse's chest. It was a black and white photo of a man with eyes that seemed barely able to focus and his face scrunched up in agony. It was a picture of Reid.

The photo brought a wave of mixed emotions. Hope that their youngest agent was still alive yet despair over the horrors he was obviously being subjected to. None of them could stop themselves from imagining what Reid was reacting to in the moment captured on film.

After Morgan snapped a few pictures of the body as it had been positioned at the dump site Hotch gave the go ahead for the body to be taken to the chief medical examiner's office in Augusta. Before an ambulance carted the body away though he had someone from the evidence retrieval team remove the picture of Reid from the victim's shirt and log it into evidence. Hotch knew the picture would eventually make its way to the evidence board back at the station after it had been processed for prints and foreign matter but for now he was glad to have the haunting image gone from his sight.

The dump site itself was nothing special. The body had been dumped in the alley behind McGee's Pub sometime after 10 o'clock when one of the employees of the restaurant had gone out for a smoke. The restaurant closed at 11 on Saturdays and Phillip McGee had sent his employees home. When he had gone to take out the trash at 11:30 he had found the body in front of the dumpster and called police.

There was garbage all over the scene. The garbage bag had split open when the owner dropped it out of surprise. Gideon frowned as he stared at the scene. "The way he left the body next to the dumpster suggests he sees his victims as trash. Yet the fact that he redressed his victim in clean clothes suggests remorse." The victim's clothes had been spotless, not the condition one would expect if the victim had been tortured in the clothes he was wearing.

Hotch was standing next to the back door of the restaurant while Morgan stood over next to where the body had been. "The UNSUB was pretty bold dumping the body while there were still people inside. Anyone could have opened the door while he was dumping the corpse and they would have had a clear view of him."

"So why didn't he just wait until everyone was gone before dumping the body?" asked Morgan. "Less chance of getting caught that way."

"Either he was under some sort of time constraint..." Hotch started.

"Or he wanted the body to be found quickly" Gideon finished.

When there was nothing more for them to do at the scene Hotch ordered everyone back to the hotel for a couple hours of sleep. "Elle can I have a word with you?" he asked as the profilers approached their vehicles.

JJ had hitched a ride to the crime scene with Hotch but overhearing her boss she decided to catch a ride back with Morgan instead, giving the two a chance to talk privately on the way back.

"With all the developments in the case we never got a chance to talk. How are you holding up?" Hotch asked as soon as they were on the road.

Elle remained silent for so long that Hotch was afraid she wasn't going to answer at all. When she finally spoke it was with great trepidation. "I'm worried about Reid, we all are. But this whole thing just feels... unreal right now. Like I'm in some kind of nightmare."

A look of concern crossed Agent Hotchner's face at his agent's words. "I know the doctor cleared you but if you don't think you're ready to work we can find a way to manage without you."

"No, I'm all right. We're already a man down, you guys need me. Anyways I just want to find Reid."

"If you need to talk, you know where to find me." Though he still had some concerns about his agent Aaron decided not to voice them just yet. He would mention it to Gideon in the morning. They could always pull her off the case if it became necessary. For now he would just keep her out of the field as much as possible. The rest of the drive back to the hotel passed in silence.

-PTTR-PTTR-PTTR-

Arriving home from his midnight shift at just after 9 a.m., the man decided that he had to make up for the time he had cost himself the night before. After preparing a syringe of sodium thiopental he set it on the silver tray in the living room and then went down to the basement to check on his guests.

Rather than flicking on the overhead lights this time he used a pull chain to turn on a single bulb at the top of the stairs. Though both captives appeared to be sleeping the man was suspicious so he walked over to the digital video camera he had mounted to record his captives when he was gone and popped out the tape.

He took the tape into a small video editing suite off the main basement and popped the tape into the player. He fast forwarded through most of it until he saw signs of the agent stirring. Pressing play he watched as the woman blamed him for everything and forgave the doctor. Scowling he fast forwarded to 10 minutes before he had returned home and pressed play once again. The video confirmed his suspicions: His captives had been carrying on a conversation up until the point they noticed he had returned.

Turning off the recording he returned to the main basement, stopping only to grab a blindfold on the way. It wasn't about the element of surprise this time. He had enjoyed watching the kid's reaction to the blindfold last time, so much so that he decided to do it again.

Although he was sorely tempted to call his captives out he crept up on the doctor from behind instead. He stood right behind the young man breathing heavily to ensure Dr. Reid would feel each breath on the back of his neck.

He knew he was successful when his captive began to squirm and struggle in an effort to turn his body and see who was behind him. Stepping around to the front of his captive, the man pulled out the blindfold and held it up again so he could see.

When Reid saw the blindfold he began to panic again. "Please don't." Despite his resolution to stay strong he couldn't stop the desperate plea from escaping his lips. Ignoring his plea the man raised the blindfold and tied it tightly around Reid's head. The last thing Reid saw was the sadistic smile on the man's face before the blindfold covered his eyes.

The man forced Reid upstairs the same way as before with one exception: this time he left Reid's hands cuffed in front of him. The aching in his jaw reminded him to be thankful for that much at least. When Reid was bound hand and foot to the chair the man left once again, returning a couple of minutes later.

The man bound his female captive the same way as he had before and then left the room for a second time. He soon returned carrying another video camera which he set up in the corner so that it was focused squarely on the young man. Turning it on, he walked over to stand next to the silver tray.

"Dr. Reid we are going to try this again, same rules as before. Now, tell me, what does your team know about me."

"N-n-nothing" Reid stammered as he realized that the man expected him to play some sort of game he didn't know by rules he barely remembered. The UNSUB had also left the blindfold on this time so Reid couldn't even see what was coming.

"Ah, ah, ah Spencer. You just broke the rules." Reid braced himself for whatever pain the UNSUB had to offer and so was caught by surprise when none came. Seconds later he found out why.

There was the sharp crack of a whip followed by the distinct sound of leather hitting flesh. The accompanying scream sounded muffled to Reid so he figured that the UNSUB must have gagged the woman for some reason. That sound of leather-on-flesh repeated over and over, intensified as Reid's other senses worked to compensate for his lack of sight. Any normal person would have lost count long ago but between the speed of his brain and his eidetic memory the young genius counted each and every single one of the 27 lashes.

It was between the 9th and 10th lashes that Spencer started begging and pleading for the man to stop. "Please. Stop. I'll do anything you want. Just make it stop." Even though he wasn't the one being brutalized he begged because he knew the woman was unable to do so herself. He didn't want to lower himself to begging for his own life but he never even hesitated to beg for somebody else's. Each muffled scream from the woman cut into him like a hot knife.

When the UNSUB finally stopped his body was slick with sweat. As good a shape as he was in, torturing people was hot and exhausting work. Putting the bloodied whip down on the silver tray, the man turned to the blindfolded agent. "See what happens when you break the rules Dr. Reid."

Reid visibly cringed at the accusation. For once he was glad for the blindfold since it hid the tears welling up in his eyes from his tormentor. He had joined the FBI to save lives, not end them.

"Next question. Answer this question truthfully and I might even let you ask a question of your own. What do you know about George Stanley." He figured that by questioning the kid he could judge how much the other FBI agent actually remembered.

Reid recognized the name instantly from the list of names from the FreeStay website. He recalled that the man had received several positive reviews from people who had stayed with him. Judging by the question, Reid guessed that he was this man's partner.

Reid had begun to dissect the photos of the first crime scene on his way over to the neighborhood they were canvassing. After staring at the designs in the blood he had realized that though the designs appeared to be random at first glance they actually fell into two very distinct patterns. That probably meant both George Stanley and the man who held him captive had been present at the first crime scene.

Reid made a tactical decision not to reveal any of this knowledge to the UNSUB so he did the only thing he could: he lied. "I've never even heard the name before."

"Dr. Reid I warned you yesterday not to try and lie to me." The young agent heard the man pull something out of his pocket and felt the stirring of the air as the man waved it in front of his face. With the blindfold over his eyes Reid couldn't see the PDA George Stanley had confiscated from Elle passing within inches of his face.

Suddenly the air stilled and Reid heard retreating footsteps as the UNSUB moved away. Reid felt his entire body shudder with silent tears. Tears not for himself but for what he knew the woman was about to face, the price she was about to pay for his lie.

This time there was no warning sound. The silence was just suddenly pierced by a scream accompanied by the sizzling of meat and the smell of burnt flesh. It didn't take an IQ of 187 to put it together. _He's branding her._ By the sound of it the woman's gag had slipped. Either that or the UNSUB had removed it to allow Reid to hear her screams all the more clearly. Reid was starting to get a feel for just how sadistic the man holding them was.

The screams ended as the man stood back to examine his handiwork. The word _Liar_ was now burned across the woman's chest. If the FBI agents who found her body were as smart as everyone seemed to think they were then they should be able to figure out who the liar was.

He thought about removing the doctor's blindfold to allow him to see the price of his deception but decided against it for now. The next part of his plan would go so much better if the young man couldn't see it coming.

Walking over to the tray he grabbed the loaded syringe he had left there earlier. He approached Reid from behind and smiled at the camera as he plunged the needle into the agent's neck. He pushed the plunger home and 30 seconds later the young man slumped in the chair, unconscious.

After turning off the camera the man had to work quickly. Between the dosage and the nature of the drug the doctor would only be out for 10 minutes. He dragged the unconscious agent down to the basement first. After gagging the woman he dragged her back to the basement to join the young man.

That done he grabbed another body from his freezer. Then he went to deliver the package. He left no message this time as he felt the body was message enough.

-PTTR-PTTR-PTTR-

Hotch had taken Gideon with him to Augusta to talk to the forensic pathologist who conducted the autopsies, leaving Morgan behind to conduct a cognitive interview with Elle.

Morgan was now seated in front of Elle at the conference room table.

"Now Elle, just relax and listen only to my sound of my voice. You're with Reid. You guys are standing on the steps in front of George Stanley's house. What do you see?"

Elle frowned. While she could easily picture her younger colleague beside her she was drawing a complete blank on any of the details. "Nothing, Morgan."

"Come on Elle, think a little harder. Two story home, blue door, what do you see?" Morgan pushed Elle harder than he would a normal witness but damn it, this was important.

Elle scowled in frustration. "Nothing Derek! I see absolutely nothing! I want to help Reid as much as you do but I just don't remember anything."

Putting his hands up in surrender Morgan tried to calm his disgruntled friend. "All right, all right. Try to relax and we'll start with earlier in the evening. You and Reid left the station with half a dozen officers. What happened?"

Elle could picture that part of the evening clearly. She and Reid had met with the officers at a crossroad. She had addressed the group telling them what part each person would play. "I told the officers to canvas the neighbors while Reid and I interviewed the people on the list. We started with Eleanor Hunt, the woman Sam Jones was staying with. Young woman in her early 20s. She let us in to ask her some questions. She told us she hadn't realized Sam was missing because she asked him to leave a week ago after he brought yet another drunken woman home to her place. We thanked her for her help and then we left. We stopped on the street outside to figure out what we were going to do next." She opened her eyes to look at Morgan.

"So what happened after you left the house." Morgan prompted her to continue.

Closing her eyes again Elle could picture the scene just after they left Ms. Hunt's house. "Reid was looking at something on his cell phone. Whatever he was looking at got him excited. He practically dragged me back to the SUV. And that's it."

"What do you mean that's it?"

"I mean that's it. The next thing I remember is waking up in the hospital and even that's foggy." Elle dropped her head into her hands as she felt one of the headaches she vaguely remembered the doctor warning her about coming on.

"Maybe you have a concussion... " Morgan started to say when the door opened as JJ let herself into the conference room before shutting the door behind her.

"The doctor at the hospital didn't seem to think she had a concussion." JJ informed him. "I was there when she got the results of some tests they ran."

"Anything that explains why she's having trouble remembering?" Elle raised her head briefly to glare at Morgan, making it clear she didn't appreciate being talked about as if she wasn't there. Her head soon dropped back into her hands though as her headache continued to rage.

"Well I guess she was hit with a taser which could cause problems with her memories. Also there were still trace amounts of a drug called Propofol in her system." By the look they exchanged it was clear neither of them were familiar with the drug. In that moment both felt their loss of their resident genius keenly as he probably would have been able to list everything from its side effects to its chemical composition.

"By the way did you need something?" asked Morgan.

"I actually came to give Elle the medication the doctor at the hospital prescribed her for any headaches. The pills shouldn't affect her functioning too much." Placing the bottle of pills in front of Elle she left and returned with a glass water. "Take one of these." she ordered handing Elle the glass of water.

Elle managed a smile of thanks as she downed one of the pills followed by the glass of water. Satisfied that her teammate was taken care of, JJ let herself out of the conference room.

While Elle waited for the pills to work, Morgan set about calling Garcia. Instead of her usual cheery greeting, Morgan found himself facing Garcia's wrath. "Why haven't you called? Have you found my baby boy yet? Why didn't you update me sooner!" The frantic way she spoke told Morgan just how worried the tech kitten was.

"Sorry mama. There's no sign of Reid yet and there was nothing really to report."

"You call a photo of Reid nothing? He looked so scared. You didn't think I knew about that? Who do you think the evidence boys sent a scanned copy to for digital processing!"

Morgan knew he looked guilty even though Garcia couldn't see him. She didn't have to see him though as his silence spoke volumes. Realizing she wasn't really helping the situation by being so hard on him, Garcia decided to give him an out. "I know you were just trying to protect me. Now what did you need?"

"A couple of things actually. I need you to send me everything you can find on a drug called propofol. I need you to access the transportation logs for the Boston Field Office and find out how much mileage was on the SUV Elle and Reid were driving the night they were attacked. And I need you to access Reid's cell phone records."

"Okay all of that is going to take some time. Why do we need to know the mileage on the SUV?" Morgan could hear Garcia rapidly typing away as her system responded to her every need.

"I'm hoping if we subtract it from the current mileage and factor in the trips we _know_ it's taken we can figure out where Reid and Elle went. The last thing Elle remembers is Reid getting some sort of message on his phone right after they left the first house and dragging her back to the SUV."

"That's why you want the records from Reid's phone? I think I might be able to tell you what he was excited about. I sent him copies of the photos you took at the second crime scene." Morgan could hear the guilt in the Garcia's voice as she admitted to sending Reid the photos.

"Babygirl, you did nothing wrong. Now I gotta go. Let me know when you have something."

By the time Morgan hung up the phone with Garcia Elle's head was starting to feel a lot better. Just as she was about to ask him what Garcia did, an officer knocked on the door of the conference room. Motioning for Elle to stay seated Morgan got up and answered the door.

"Agent Morgan a package arrived at the station this morning addressed to the BAU."

Thanking the man Morgan quickly slipped on a pair of examination gloves before taking the package from the officer. Setting the package down on the conference table he carefully removed each piece of tape, taking extreme care not to rip the paper. Once the paper was gone they were left with a small box sitting in the middle of the table.

Morgan glanced at Elle, briefly making eye contact, before lifting the lid of the box. Lying on the soft velvet inside the box was a DVD.

-PTTR-PTTR-PTTR-

Hotch stood on one side of the metal exam table next to the forensic pathologist while Gideon stood on the other. "The process of freezing has caused tissue damage that has made cause of death difficult to pinpoint." Both men listened as the doctor explained what she had found. "You'll find details on the various wounds this man suffered in the report but I wanted to draw your attention to these wounds on the victim's chest."

"What's so special about those wounds?" Gideon asked, staring where the pathologist pointed.

"Well despite the fact that each of these wounds is deep and penetrating they all managed to miss hitting any major organs. They were designed to inflict maximum pain and damage without being fatal."

"What kind of knowledge would someone need to be able to do that?" Hotch inquired.

"None if it was only one or two wounds. They could have just gotten lucky. But this many penetrations would have required detailed knowledge of human anatomy. I would also like to point out that some of the wounds on this man show signs of being stitched up. Same thing with our second victim."

"So it looks like we might be looking for someone with some type of medical knowledge" said Gideon. Before they could continue going over the body, Hotch's phone began to ring.

Hotch quickly checked the caller ID. When he saw it was Morgan he punched the talk button and held the phone to his ear. After listening for a second the others saw him move the phone away from his ear and place his hand over the mouthpiece. "Is there anything else you need to show us doctor?" he asked the pathologist.

When the woman shook her head 'no' he put the phone back up to his ear. "We're done here. Wait for us. We'll be there in 40."

Hanging up the phone he apologized to the doctor. "I'm sorry we couldn't spend more time with you but we're needed back at the station." Gideon gave the younger man a questioning look as they left the office of the chief medical examiner. The station was an hour away.

-PTTR-PTTR-PTTR-

Morgan's PDA buzzed signaling the arrival of an e-mail just as his phone began to ring. A glance at the caller ID confirmed his suspicions. "What's up babygirl?"

"As you may or may not have noticed, all the information I could dig up on that drug propofol has now arrived on your PDA. I'm telling you straight up that this is some serious stuff, used for inducing anesthesia. Its dose-response curve is so steep you would have to know what you were doing if you wanted to knock someone out without killing them."

"Thanks babygirl. Any luck finding the mileage?"

"Negative. The Boston field office is seriously behind in their paperwork. I'm currently working on an alternative method of tracking the movements of our missing friend."

"All right. I'll let you know the moment we get any more information on Reid." Hanging up the phone Morgan felt guilty for not telling her about the DVD they had been sent but he figured there was no sense in getting her worked up when they didn't even know what was on it.

Morgan had just started reading through some of the information Garcia had sent them when Hotch and Gideon entered the station. Upon seeing them enter JJ quickly wrapped up the phone call she was fielding and made her way to the conference room. Gideon and Hotch had already settled by the time she arrived. Elle had just gone to grab a coffee from the break room and would be back any minute.

While they waited for the missing profiler, JJ filled the rest of the team in on the latest developments with the media. "Seems like we are about to have a lot more problems with the press soon. The story about Spence has leaked out and went national. A kidnapped federal agent is big news and the fact that he's only 24 makes it even more compelling."

Gideon just shook his head. If the media focused too much attention on Reid the UNSUB might kill the young man just to draw attention. The fact that he craved attention and recognition was obvious from the note he had left when he dumped the body at the paper.

Once Elle joined the team in the conference room JJ shut the door and closed the blinds. Despite how helpful the locals had been they were all apprehensive about what they might see on the DVD.

Pulling on yet another pair of examination gloves Morgan carefully slid the DVD out of the box and popped it into the DVD drive on the laptop in front of them. The disc auto-played as soon as it was loaded.

The entire team gasped as a blindfolded and restrained Reid appeared on the screen. There was dried blood around his nose and a large, nasty-looking bruise on his jaw. While everyone else was focused entirely on the video, Gideon divided his attention between Reid and the team equally.

At one point in the video it appeared to Gideon as if the UNSUB was talking to Reid. The terrified young man could barely get his responses out. They saw the agent flinch as if he expected the UNSUB to hit him but no hit ever came.

Gideon looked around at the other agents as they heard Reid beg the UNSUB to stop. Elle stood staring at the screen but it was clear to Gideon that she was watching without really seeing. A clenched jaw and furrow brow served as subtle indicators of the rage boiling within Morgan. Hotch, their unit chief, remained stoic as ever on the outside though Gideon figured that he was blaming himself on the inside for everything that happened. JJ watched as long as she could but as soon as her friend started begging she had turned to face the wall. A memory flashed through Gideon's mind at that moment. _"You know she's the only person in the world who calls me 'Spence'"._

Finally Gideon stopped to consider his own reaction. He knew that to everyone else he appeared cold and uncaring but he was deeply concerned for his protégé. He knew Spencer Reid was stronger than people gave him credit for but he wasn't sure how long the young man could hold on.

After what seemed like ages the terrifying video finally came to an end. The last thing they saw on screen was their missing colleague slipping into unconsciousness after a hooded finger plunged a loaded syringe into his neck.

When the video was over nobody moved. Nobody made a sound. They just sat staring at the black screen until Gideon finally broke the silence, suggesting that they should send the video to Garcia for analysis.

Morgan responded almost immediately with an angry "No". There was no way he wanted to put the bright, cheerful woman through the horror of watching that. She might never recover.

"Morgan, the video proves Reid is still alive and appears to be in decent shape, at least physically, for now." Hotch reminded his agent.

Morgan nodded grudgingly. "Fine, but I want to be the one to call her."

Hotch agreed.

**So hard to write them watching the DVD without feeling like I was repeating myself. That scene almost ended up being moved to the next chapter out of shear frustration :P Anyways thanks for reading. Please take the time to review as it will help my writing.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Sorry for the delay in getting this chapter out. A combination of real life issues and quiet contemplation of the UNSUBS game delayed the writing of this chapter. It may also be a while before the next chapter comes out as I'm busy this weekend and the final version of the report I vaguely remembering mentioning before the last update is due on Wednesday. I hope this update is worth it. I tried to mainly focus on Reid and the UNSUB in this chapter. I also want to warn you ahead of time that I'm going to be giving JJ a bigger role in this story than she actually had in Season 1. As Ed Bernardo pointed out during one of the season 2 commentaries, JJ didn't really do much in Season 1. I hope you will forgive me. I've also gone through and made a list of questions to be answered in upcoming chapters so enjoy!**

**Warning: Mentions of torture, mild language**

**Disclaimer: ****I do not own Criminal Minds, nor the Criminal Minds characters. All original characters and mistakes are my own.**

There was a moment of confusion as Reid slowly regained consciousness, an experience he was becoming all-too-familiar with, but it passed quickly. His memory of earlier events was quite clear which surprised the young genius. He clearly remembered the feeling of a syringe being jabbed into his neck and he shuddered at the thought of anybody forcing some unknown drug into his system.

Opening his eyes he found himself once again in complete darkness. Reid struggled to find some sort of consistency in the man's actions. _He branded her. Why doesn't he want to show me his handiwork? _Last time he had tortured the girl in front of Reid he had left the light on so the agent could see the 'consequences' of his actions. Now the UNSUB was leaving Reid in the dark, both literally and figuratively.

Reid had no idea how long he had been hanging there in the darkness when he heard the sound of the door being opened. Reid's eyes automatically slammed shut so when the flood of light from the overheads came he was prepared. His vision cleared much quicker this time but before he could even glance at the woman the UNSUB was right there in front of him.

As the UNSUB unhooked the ever-present handcuffs from the hook above him, Reid's legs collapsed beneath his full weight, too weak to support him. The UNSUB frowned at the agent on the ground. Counting the days he realized it had probably been a couple of days since the agent had eaten anything. He would have to deal with that later.

Grabbing the young man around the shoulders he pretty much hauled him up the stairs. Since the UNSUB had left the blindfold off, Reid got his first good look at the stairs. Looking down as he was manhandled, the agent realized it was a miracle he hadn't tripped and broken his neck. The stairs were open slats such that you could see the basement floor underneath them. All it took was catching a foot under the bottom of a step and he would have been sent tumbling.

Reid was soon once again strapped into the all-too-familiar chair and watched as the UNSUB dragged the woman over to the posts and bound her there. He cringed when he spotted the word "Liar" burned into her flesh. From the shine of the skin it appeared the man had at least covered the brand in some sort of ointment. When the woman was secured the man walked over to a corner of the room, drawing Reid's attention to the video camera mounted there.

The man turned to face his captive before turning on the camera. When he spotted Reid's gaze on the camera a grin slowly spread over his face. "I wonder how your colleagues are enjoying the video I sent them." he said right before he turned on the camera.

Reid was surprised by the UNSUB's admission but filed the information away for later. He didn't have time to dwell on it right now. The UNSUB wanted to play.

-PTTR-PTTR-PTTR-

Hotch had finally gotten around to looking through the reports prepared by the forensic pathologist. The documentation of the men's injuries provided a very clear picture of the level of violence the UNSUB was capable of.

The first victim had been stabbed 37 times in the chest and abdomen. The victim's arms and legs had been littered with so many cuts that the pathologist was unable to count them all. Bruises on the torso were consistent with a bare knuckle beating. Some of the wounds had started to heal indicating the UNSUB had tortured the victim over many days. Stomach and bowels completely empty but no overt signs of starvation. Just over two pints of blood left in the body.

The second victim had been stabbed 52 times in the chest, abdomen, arms and legs. Welts on the back consistent with being lashed with a belt. Bruises consistent with a bare-knuckle attack. Some sort of blunt object used to completely obliterate the face. Partially healed wounds and less than a pint of blood left in the body.

Samples of the victims' DNA had been shipped to Quantico but they were still waiting on the results. Hotch had no doubt that the victims' DNA would match samples taken from the first two crime scenes. The autopsy indicated that both bodies had been frozen for less than a week. In fact the forensic pathologist hadn't been able to complete the report on the second victim because the body was still partially frozen.

Neither victims' fingerprints were in the system. The chief medical examiner had called in a forensic dentist to try and make an identification based on dental records but that would take some time. Time they didn't really have.

Hotch closed the file and pushed the report off to the side in frustration. Aside from the medical knowledge needed to carry out the crime, the first two bodies hadn't really provided them with much. They didn't have nearly enough for a profile. Hotch was starting to understand what drove Morgan's urge to hit something.

He desperately hoped Morgan would manage to get something useful out of the suspect they already had in custody.

-PTTR-PTTR-PTTR-

Reid felt his eyes go wide as the UNSUB approached with a large knife in his hand. He struggled for a minute against his bonds but his struggles ceased as the knife drew close to his chest. Reid fought the urge to look away as the knife closed the remaining 1-inch gap.

Reid was surprised but relieved when the man merely used the knife to cut away both his sweater vest and the button-down shirt underneath rather than using it on Reid himself. With his shirt and vest gone Reid's chest was completely bare leaving the young man feeling self-conscious and exposed.

His discomfort only increased when the man approached and attached what appeared to be electrodes to Reid's bared chest. He felt himself swallow involuntarily when the man inadvertently brushed his skin, raising goose bumps on his exposed flesh.

After attaching the electrodes to the doctor the man went and repeated the process with the woman, omitting the part where he cut off her shirt since she was already in her underclothes.

When he was done the man backed up and smiled at his captives. He then began to explain the rules of the game. "Now this game is simple Dr. Reid. I'll ask you a question and it's your job to answer. After 30 seconds you will experience an electric shock every 10 seconds until you answer. You can ask for a hint but if you do the woman will receive a shock. Get a question wrong and you both get shocked. The intensity will increase with each shock until such time as it proves fatal. Do you understand Dr. Reid?"

Reid nodded at the man, his expression unreadable.

"Good, then let us begin" said the man. And then he started to read off a riddle:

_As I was going to St. Ives  
I met a man with seven wives  
The seven wives had seven sacks  
The seven sacks had seven cats  
The seven cats had seven kits  
Kits, cats, sacks and wives  
How many were going to St. Ives?_

Reid remained silent, deep in thought. He had heard the riddle before and so he knew the answer before the man even finished the question but he didn't answer right away. The UNSUB had proved last time that he wouldn't hesitate to ask questions that even a genius couldn't possibly answer. In fact some people would argue that this particular riddle actually had two possible answers. He also seemed to enjoy taking the time to torture his victims so Reid figured the man was bluffing when he said he would increase the intensity of the shock until it was fatal...

Reid's train of thought was interrupted by a mildly painful shock. It seemed like his 30 seconds was up. It was okay though, since Reid had decided to call the UNSUB's bluff and simply remained silent.

-PTTR-PTTR-PTTR-

Morgan sat across the table from George Stanley just as he had during the initial interview. The folder in front of him held the picture of Reid from the second body along with a couple of images Garcia had pulled from the video.

"I know you didn't kill Dr. Reid." One by one Morgan removed the images in the file and laid them out before the suspect. He did so without really looking at the pictures, intent as he was on watching the suspect's face for any sign of a reaction.

Morgan was not disappointed. A wave of emotions washed over George Stanley's face as he stared at the images: surprise, delight and... sorrow? The experienced profiler was surprised by that last emotion. It had only lasted a second so he couldn't be sure but it might be a way in; a way to break the guy. Morgan chanced a quick glance at the two-way glass in hope that his boss was watching.

Behind the mirror, Hotch was watching the interrogation and he has seen it, that flash of remorse. As soon as he saw Morgan glance at the mirror, Hotch tapped once on the glass before returning to the conference room to call Garcia.

Assured by that single tap that his boss was on it, Morgan pulled out a second file folder that had been sitting underneath that containing the images of Reid. "What I'm more interested in at the moment..." Morgan paused to remove a couple of photographs from the file. "... is your work" he finished, laying the pictures out to cover the photographs of his teammate.

Garcia had managed to dig up photographs someone had taken of some of George Stanley's work right around the time when he had started using blood as a medium. Those photographs now lay before him and he sat staring at them, drinking them in.

"I've got some more photographs to show that you might be interested in, " Morgan told him, "if you tell me where my agent is."

Though the man's eyes betrayed his interest he chose to remain silent.

-PTTR-PTTR-PTTR-

The man had set up a computer program to automatically administer the shocks while his captive was thinking. He had also programmed the computer so that the shocks wouldn't actually reach a dangerous level but there was no way the agent could know that. So it frustrated him immensely when the young man refused to answer.

The man knew it was an outright refusal since he had specifically chosen an old classic riddle and the FBI agent before him was a certified genius. As the intensity of the shocks, and by correlation the amount of pain they caused, increased the man couldn't help but be slightly impressed with the young Dr. Reid as he remained silent despite the pain he faced. Both impressed and frustrated at the same time, the UNSUB typed something into the computer and the pain suddenly ceased.

Truth be told the games had begun to bore him. Torturing the woman in front of the agent had begun to bore him. Or maybe it was just the woman herself who had begun to bore him. Whatever the reason he decided then and there she had outlived her usefulness. Turning around he stabbed the knife he was carrying into her gut in one swift motion. Appearing entirely calm he sat down in front of the TV leaving Spencer to watch her slowly bleed out.

Despite the camera Reid couldn't keep the look of shock from his face. The UNSUB's attack had seemed completely random and judging from the location of the wound she was going to bleed out in the most painful way possible unless she received medical attention. Watching the UNSUB calmly walk away the young doctor somehow knew that the man wasn't going to give her any medical attention, not this time. All he could do was try to keep her killer from hearing his sobs as he watched her die.

A minute later Reid heard the television come on in another part of the room.

_And now for our top story. It's been almost two days since the abduction of Special Agent Dr. Spencer Reid. Dr. Reid was one of a group of FBI profilers with the behavioral analysis unit called in to help investigate a series of possible homicides in the region. The FBI has confirmed the 24 year old agent was investigating a lead at the time of his abduction and sources inside the department speculate..._

The UNSUB switched the station before Reid could hear anymore. _Has it really been two days? _Reid briefly wondered if his team had made any progress. Speaking of the team... _Elle!_

As quickly as it had come all thoughts of his partner that night were pushed from his mind by the sound of the woman coughing up blood, forcing him back to the present. Reid struggled in the chair, testing each of his bonds but the leather straps held strong. Helpless to save her, Reid desperately wished he could at least provide the dying woman with some measure of comfort. "My team will find us." he whispered though he had no idea if the woman actually heard him.

As he watched the blood seep from the wound images of the attack played over and over again in his head. As the images replayed Reid thought he spotted something his subconscious mind had picked up even as his conscious mind was occupied. Closing his eyes to block out everything else, Reid fell into the memory.

_The man is staring straight at Reid, ignoring the sobbing woman behind him. Reid can tell by the slightly glazed look in his eye that the man isn't really looking at him. He appears to be deep in thought. Suddenly he spins around and stabs the knife into the woman's abdomen, his muscles never betraying his intentions. The way Reid's chair is positioned, diagonal to the woman, he sees the look of complete calm on the UNSUBs face as the knife slides into her body. Reid plays through the actual stabbing again, mentally slowing down the attack. This time he sees it. A look of pure rage before the man's mask of complete calm snaps back into place. _

When Reid opened his eyes he half-expected to find the UNSUB right in front of him. Turning his head as much as he could, Reid could just make out the UNSUB in the corner of his eye. The man still sat on the couch engaged by whatever he was watching on television. "Suppressed rage. So suppressed I don't even think he realizes he's experiencing it." Reid stared straight at the camera and kept his voice low. He prayed that the UNSUB would decide to send his team another video.

A commercial came on and the UNSUB realized that the girl was simply taking far too long to die this way. He decided he would speed things up but he didn't want the agent to know. Walking over to the young man he pulled out the blindfold he had stowed in his back pocket and tied it over his captives eyes before Reid could even protest.

Blindfolded, Reid waited for the man to take him back downstairs. Unable to see, he was completely unprepared for the first blow as the UNSUB's fist made contact with the agent's already bruised jaw.

-PTTR-PTTR-PTTR-

Gideon stood staring up at the masts that towered above the harbor. While the schooner wasn't nearly as large as some of the private yachts docked elsewhere in the bay, the _Mary May _was impressive none-the-less.

"Detective Stanfield is waiting to meet us on board" said Hotch as he came up behind Gideon, startling the older man out of his reverie.

The noise Gideon made in reply was little more than a grunt but Aaron Hotchner had worked with the man long enough to understood what it meant. Leaving the man to his thoughts, he made his way up the short gangplank alone. Jason would follow when he was ready.

An officer standing on the deck of the ship directed Hotch through a door and down to the cabins below deck. Despite the size of the ship the hallways were narrow and cramped. He found the actual room easy enough. It was hard to get lost when there were people standing around outside the cabin door.

Upon noticing the profiler, Detective Stanfield made quick introductions. "Agent Hotchner meet Captain Jim Brody. Captain Jim this is Supervisor Special Agent Aaron Hotchner with the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit."

"Pleasure to meet you" said Hotch, shaking the man's hand. The rough calluses on the captain's hands told him the title was not just for show.

With the pleasantries out of the way, Detective Stanfield got down to updating Hotch on the situation. "The _Mary May _ was supposed to be setting out on a 6 day cruise of Penobscot Bay at first light tomorrow. The captain finished his last checks of the ship and cabins this morning. The ship remained empty until passengers began to board this evening and someone found a surprise waiting in their cabin. "

"What's the significance of the ship? If he was looking for attention why didn't he choose one of the expensive pleasure ships?" asked Gideon who had joined them during the detective's explanation.

"Maine has a huge Windjammer fleet. Lots of islands and protected coves for them to anchor at. The town's annual windjammer festival is one of the biggest events of the summer." explained the Captain.

"So he chose a dump site that's symbolic to the town." Gideon was talking more to himself then the men around him at that moment. That alone wasn't significant but maybe if they took a closer look at the previous two locations they might get somewhere.

In the meantime, it was time for them to get a look at the body. The detective and the captain both took a step backwards giving the profilers room to enter the cabin.

Both men were surprised to see the face of the victim was virtually untouched. The way the sheets were pulled up on the victim he might have been sleeping if it were not for the pallor caused by the massive blood loss.

"Has anyone touched the scene yet?" asked Gideon.

"I did try to take his pulse" Captain Jim answered. "But as soon as I felt how cold he was I knew he was gone and called the cops."

Hotch pulled on a pair of blue examination gloves as he moved up next to the bed. Pulling up the sheets to take a peek at the victim's body, what he saw made the seasoned profiler look away.

"What is it Hotch?" Gideon asked when he saw his colleagues reaction.

"No stab wounds but the victim was completely eviscerated. " Hotch informed him.

Gideon walked over and lifted the sheet to take a look for himself. "Completely different MO. Either we are dealing with an entirely different killer or we are looking at one of our UNSUB's first kills."

**I know this chapter wasn't quite as long as chapter 7 or 8 but I didn't want to take away from the scenes between Reid and the UNSUB so I didn't want to add to much information. If you are disappointed with how little there was about Reid's reaction to the pain, I promise there will be more about it in the next chapter. Take the time to review and feel free to PM me any suggestions on directions you want this story to go. **


	10. Chapter 10

**So this chapter took an... interesting turn to say the least. I blame partially the fog-filled walk down by the haunted, abandoned institution I ended up taking the other night. When the UNSUB is whistling in this chapter I was actually trying to capture something I was whistling when walking through the rain. The end result was that some of the content originally planned for this chapter was bumped to the next chapter. I promise that there will be more interaction between Reid and the UNSUB in the next chapter. I've got this amazing scene planned out where... well you'll just have to read it.**

**Warning: References to torture**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds nor the Criminal Minds characters. All other characters and mistakes are my own. **

"You know Elle, something's been bothering me about this case. Why did the UNSUB only abduct Reid?" JJ asked. She and Elle were sitting together in the conference room going through victimology again since more victims had been identified.

"Maybe I wasn't his type?" Elle guessed.

"DNA from the first crime scene shows that he kills both men and women, even if we've only found male bodies so far. And Reid doesn't exactly match his type physically."

Elle scanned over images of the victims laid out before her on the conference room table. "You're right. Although their ages vary, these men were all physically fit, well-muscled men. Aside from working in law enforcement, Reid isn't exactly what most people would consider masculine and working in law enforcement could be seen as overcompensating."

"Elle do you really want to get into the psychology of men in law enforcement right now?" asked JJ, one eyebrow raised.

Elle glanced out the open conference room door to where Morgan appeared deep in discussion with an officer. "No, not really. All I'm really saying is that Morgan seems more his type then Reid."

Upon hearing his name Morgan broke off his conversation with the officer and returned to the conference room. "What about me?"

JJ was quick to cover for her friend. "I was just wondering why the UNSUB took Reid but not Elle. Especially when he had no guarantee she wouldn't wake up and remember everything."

"So? Maybe he left his partner to take care of her." Morgan's eyes instantly swiveled to his teammate. "Sorry Elle."

"No, it's all right. It's a possibility I've considered myself... except that George Stanley doesn't seem like the type of person you'd leave something that important to..."

"...unless getting away with Reid was worth the risk of leaving a witness." Morgan completed the thought. "The UNSUB couldn't have known how long he had until someone went looking for them."

"Guys what if Reid was a target all along?" suggested JJ, rapidly dialing a familiar number on her phone.

"Tell me what you need," greeted the familiar voice of the technical analyst.

"Garcia, I need everything you can find on the victims, and I mean everything."

"All right Jayje. If someone got a detention in the 3rd grade you'll know about it."

"Thanks Garcia.". Hanging up the phone JJ addressed her teammates. "These victims are connected in some other way, we just haven't found it yet."

-PTTR-PTTR-PTTR-

The man whistled to himself as he worked on the agent. _Daa-da-da-daa-daa da-da-da-da-daa-daa._ He removed his captives wrists from the restraints. _Daa-da-da-daa-daa da-da-da-da-daa-daa._ Almost tenderly the man slathered ointment on Dr. Reid's wrists, rubbed raw from the handcuffs. _Daa-da-da-daa-daa da-da-da-da-daa-daa. _Done with his work on the wrists he cuffed them in front of the man.

His song grew more rapid, more frantic as he continued his ministrations. With deft hands he inserted an IV into a vein near the agent's elbow joint. His work done his whistling suddenly ceased. "Sleep well Dr. Reid."

-PTTR-PTTR-PTTR-

"All right Morgan, Elle start from the beginning." Hotch ordered. He and Gideon had returned from the dump site to find things in the conference room in full swing.

"Actually it was JJ who made the initial suggestion." said Morgan.

Hotch quirked an eyebrow before turning to address the communications liaison. "All right, start from the beginning JJ."

JJ blushed slightly but recovered quickly. "Well Reid's abduction was bothering me because he didn't really fit the UNSUBs physical type with regards to male victims. So I figured there might be more to it. I called Garcia and had her dig into every aspect of the victims lives."

Pausing for a breath, JJ walked over to the evidence board where she had pinned up photos of the victim's families. After a quick glance at the map Reid had pinned there two days ago she hardened herself and started pointing to the individual circled in each family photo. "Garcia dug up each of these family photos and I took the liberty of circling our vic in each photo. What do you notice?"

Hotch and Gideon both stared at the pictures. Morgan and Elle already knew the answer but they remained silent, giving the more experienced profilers a chance to reach the same conclusion they had.

Gideon stumbled onto the answer before Hotch did. "Each of them appears to be the youngest in the photo."

Morgan stepped in at that point. "As far as Garcia can tell birth records confirm that each victim was the youngest in his family. All had older siblings."

Hotch quickly spotted a problem with the theory. "That still doesn't explain how Reid fits in. He's an only child."

"He didn't at first" answered Elle. "Not until we started to consider that the UNSUB might see us as a family. If we're Reid's family... that makes Reid the youngest."

"We may need more evidence to confirm but we can run with this as a working theory for now, along with the theory that Reid was targeted intentionally. " said Hotch. "But that still leaves us with one big unanswered question."

"Why is this UNSUB going after the youngest." said Gideon.

_-PTTR-PTTR-PTTR-_

_He's strapped down tight to the chair. He can feel the electricity running through his body, sending waves of pain through him. He can feel the electrodes burning his skin at the point of contact. He tries to scream but he can't even open his mouth. Helpless, he can feel the tears streaming down his face and silently pleads for death..._

Gasping, Reid woke from his nightmare, a nightmare in which he had been reliving the pain from earlier that day. Or was it from the night before. Reid had no idea how long it had gone on before the UNSUB had cut the power. The last thought Reid had before slipping back into unconsciousness was about the difference between nightmares and reality. In his nightmare he had been unable to scream. In reality he had been helpless to stop the scream that was ripped from his throat.

-PTTR-PTTR-PTTR-

The team had finally returned to the hotel just after 3 am, when Hotch ordered them to get some rest. When JJ had tried to protest Hotch had pointed out that they were no good to Reid if they weren't at their best both mentally and physically. Nobody wanted to mention the fact that he had been missing for more than 72 hours.

While his team returned to the hotel for some much-needed rest Hotch was hard put to follow his own advice. Instead he parked himself in front of the laptop in the conference room, replaying the video of Reid over and over. Every time he saw the fear and guilt reflected on his agent's face he felt something inside of him break. With everything their resident genius knew it was so easy for Hotch to forget how young Reid actually was. If Reid didn't make it through this... no he couldn't think like that.

When Gideon returned to the station just after 7 a.m. Monday morning he found Hotch asleep in front of the computer at the conference room table. Spotting the video player still on screen, the older man just shook his head. As much as he wanted to let the man sleep, it was obvious he had gotten little, they had work to do. "Hotch" he called.

Agent Hotchner woke with a start upon hearing his name. His head swiveled from side to side as he oriented himself. Spotting Gideon he looked sheepish at having fallen asleep on the job. "Sorry." he said.

"No need to apologize. This past year I've spent so many sleepless nights wondering if there was something I could have done differently." Gideon replied.

Over the next half hour the rest of the team filed in, grabbing bad cop-shop coffee from the break room as they did so. Nobody had slept more than a couple of hours and they needed all the extra energy they could get.

They were sitting around discussing the profile when Detective Stanfield entered the conference room carrying a parcel. "This was delivered with the morning post. It's addressed to the BAU."

The entire team just stared at the parcel when Stanfield set it down on the conference room table. They had a pretty good guess about what the parcel contained and yet they were afraid to be proved right.

Finally, Hotch gloved up and pulled the parcel towards him. Opening it carefully, he found a box identical to the first they had received. He felt his agent's collectively holding their breath as he flipped up the lid on the box.

There, nestled in velvet, sat the very thing they had been dreading: another DVD.

Popping open the drive, Hotch exchanged one home-burned DVD for another. As soon as he popped the disk into the drive a video connection appeared on screen.

Before anyone could so much as gasp in surprise the familiar face of their technical analyst appeared on screen.

Hotch frowned at the woman. "Garcia... what did you do."

"I may have installed something on your laptop that alerted me as soon as you loaded an unknown disc." Seeing the look on her boss's face Garcia rushed to defend herself. "I got tired of hearing things second hand. Morgan tried so hard to convince you not to let me see the last video, I was afraid you might actually listen this time."

Sighing, Hotch forgave the woman. "It's all right Garcia. Just play the video."

They heard the clack of keys and within seconds a video player filled the screen as the tech analyst's image retreated to a small picture-in-picture box in the corner. A few seconds more and an image of their missing colleague appeared on screen.

Hotch saw right away the toll captivity was taking on his youngest agent. There were dark circles under his eyes and worry lines on his face. With his unwashed hair sticking every which way he had appeared to have aged 10 years in just 3 days.

When the man cut off his agent's shirt he saw a vulnerability reflected in the young man's eyes that he had never realized was there before. Reid's reaction to being touched by the man concerned him more than anything else the profiler had seen.

The UNSUB hadn't taken the time to edit his voice out of this video so the agents heard everything he said to Reid. When the UNSUB mentioned a woman, Reid's actions in the previous video began to make a lot more sense.

The UNSUB recited a riddle of some sorts and then the countdown started. Hotch was surprised when that first shock came. He had expected Reid to solve the riddle right away.

"Why isn't he saying anything" Morgan growled when he realized their resident genius was deliberately refusing to solve the riddle.

"Calm down Morgan. He must know something we don't. Something that has him believing this is the only way to protect whoever else the UNSUB is holding captive." said Gideon.

"Damn" was the only reply.

Though Reid was obviously trying hard not to give the UNSUB the satisfaction, with each shock Hotch could see the increase in pain reflected in Reid's face. By the 5th shock he could no longer hold back his screams. By the 10th the young man seemed to be on the verge of losing consciousness.

Then, as suddenly as they began, the electric shocks stopped. _He must be getting bored._ Seconds later a look of shock crossed Reid's face followed immediately by grief.

Hotch was puzzled when he heard what sounded like a television in the background.

The profilers all sat staring at the screen trying to figure out why the UNSUB left the camera rolling. It was Elle who figured it out first. "I think he left her to die slowly... and he's making Reid watch."

It was Gideon who spoke next. "I hope he knows it's not his fault. That threat with the electric shocks combined with how long he usually spends with each victim... he clearly wasn't done with Reid yet. He was going to kill her no matter–."

"I think Reid's trying to tell us something." JJ interrupted. She had left the conference room just before the video started playing but had evidently returned at some point.

"Garcia, can you separate the layers of audio and enhance what Reid is saying" ordered Hotch.

"On it boss." Even as the video still played on screen they watched Garcia work her magic. Before she could complete her task though they saw movement from the UNSUB onscreen. Hotch was puzzled when the UNSUB pulled out a blindfold. He was even more puzzled by the flash of fear in Reid's eyes when the young man saw the blindfold.

When the UNSUBS right hook made contact with Reid's jaw all thoughts of blindfolds were banished.

With each blow the UNSUB landed on Reid's head and torso the profiler's winced. At least they now had a clear idea where the bruises on the previous victims' bodies had come from. By the time the UNSUB finished his brutal beating Reid had mercifully lost consciousness. They saw the UNSUB approach the camera, his face masked as before, and then the video ended.

The team stood staring for a moment before Garcia interrupted the silence. "I've managed to isolate what Reid was saying even though he was barely speaking above a whisper." Garcia played the clip for them.

_" Suppressed rage. So suppressed I don't even think he realizes he's experiencing it"_

-PTTR-PTTR-PTTR-

It was only upon awakening for the second time that Reid realized he was still strapped to the chair. At least his legs were. Looking down he not only saw his hands cuffed in front of him but he also spotted the IV trailing out of his arm. As he started to squirm in an effort to dislodge it he heard the voice of the man, the voice of his nightmares, coming from somewhere behind him.

"Good morning Dr. Reid." the man said. "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

"Why not". Reid's voice once again rasped when he attempted to talk but this time he wouldn't be accepting any water from the UNSUB, no matter how thirsty he was.

"Because that IV is the only thing providing you with the nutrients you so desperately need." replied the man.

Reid had no idea if the man was telling the truth. Given his past behaviour either possibility seemed equally likely. He took a moment to consider how he felt, physically. Aside from the bouts of unconsciousness, the pain in his muscles from the electrical shocks and the bruises from the beating, Reid felt fine, so he decided he probably wasn't being drugged through the IV. At least not at the moment. After considering everything he decided to chance asking the UNSUB a question. "Why bother?"

To his surprise the man actually answered the question. "Well you said it yourself, I'm a sadist. No point in torturing someone who's too weak to scream."

Reid felt a shiver run through his spine at the mention of torture. From the condition Jane had been in when he killed her, what the agent had experienced so far was only the tip of the iceberg. _Jane as in Jane Doe._ Reid was ashamed when he realized that in all their time together he had never bothered to find out her name.

As he stared at the liquid flowing into his vein, his eyes wept silent tears.

_-PTTR-PTTR-PTTR-_

_" Suppressed rage. So suppressed I don't even think he realizes he's experiencing it"_

The ominous words had barely finished playing when Detective Stanfield let himself into the conference room. "How many?" asked Hotch. The detective didn't even need to use words anymore as they all easily recognized the look on his face.

"Two in the park. One of them is still warm." replied the detective.

Hotch quickly scanned the room trying to get a feel for the mental state of his agents. "Morgan you're with me. I want the rest of you to stay here and see what you can get off the video." Hotch ordered.

He left the station with Morgan and within 10 minutes they were at the newest dump site. _This really is a small town._ Getting out of the car they followed Stanfield over to a statue in the middle of the park. A uniformed officer was waiting at the scene with a young couple dressed in running gear. The man stood with one arm wrapped protectively around the woman's shoulders.

"Detective, Agents." the officer greeted the men. "Mr. and Mrs. Bath were going for their morning jog through the park around 7:30 when they found the bodies and called police."

"Was there anyone else around when you entered the park this morning." the detective asked.

Mr. Bath was the one who answered. "No, the park has been completely empty since we got here. If there's nothing else, I would like to take my wife home."

"Just one more question Mr. Bath and then you can go. Is jogging through the park part of your usual morning routine?" asked Hotch.

Mr. Bath lifted his free hand to scratch his face. "Well, yah we run through here almost every morning."

"Thank you Mr. and Mrs. Bath. That will be all for now." said Hotch. He watched as the officer escorted the couple away from the scene.

"If it was common knowledge they ran this way each morning then the killer may have wanted the bodies found quickly." he told the other two men when the couple was out of ear shot.

"Assuming the UNSUB lives in town and is familiar enough with its residents to know that sort of thing." countered Morgan.

Detective Stanfield settled the argument. "I think it's fairly common knowledge around these parts now. There was a piece in the local paper about the Baths last month when they were training for a marathon."

"Anything else about the park other than that?" asked Hotch.

"Well it is where townsfolk gather each summer for the 4th of July fireworks." Stanfield explained.

With the discussion of the site coming to an end the profilers turned their attention to the bodies themselves. One male, one female. While the male victim's body appeared bloodless like the previous victim's, the female victim's body still had some color to it. The injuries on the male victim appeared similar to the other victim's apart from the obvious increase in the number of stab wounds. The victim's face had also been removed. The male body had been dumped just like the others.

The female victim on the other hand had been posed so that she was sitting up against the statue. Despite the brutality on the rest of her body, the female victim's face was relatively untouched making it easy for the Hotch to follow her gaze to the male victim. He also noted a stab wound to the victim's abdomen, clearly visible due to the victim's state of undress.

While Hotch focused his attention on the victim's face, Morgan's attention was drawn to her hand. She appeared to be gripping something tightly in her left fist. Drawing on a pair of gloves, Morgan bent down to examine her fist, hoping to extract whatever she was gripping before rigor mortis set in.

Using his own fingers Morgan carefully pried open the woman's closed fist, keeping his other hand underneath. When he got the woman's fingers opened half way something fell out of her hand and into Morgan's waiting palm. Disengaging himself he withdrew his hand and stared down at the object on his palm.

It was a pinky finger.

**Sorry that cliffhanger was just too juicy to pass up. Thanks for reading and please take the time to review. **

**P.S. When I say Reid screams DO NOT imagine his reaction in Revelations which the Closed Captioning so graciously described as "Reid squeals."**


	11. Chapter 11

**I sincerely apologize for the delay in updating. I've been super busy with work stuff and the holidays. I also started reading a super entertaining de-aged Reid story called "Turning Back Time" by maxandkidz which is currently 133 chapters long so that's really what I've been up to ;)**

**This was originally going to be a super short chapter because I went off script and was going to have to redo the outlines for the next four chapters to help get things back on track but I managed to actually add some of the missing info into this chapter so we'll see how it goes. The super awesome Reid & UNSUB chapter I had planned next still has to get pushed off though. Sigh. **

**Also I thought I should make it clear that the scene with the UNSUB and Reid in this chapter actually occurs before the UNSUB dumped Jane Doe's body. Enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or any of the Criminal Minds characters. All other characters and mistakes are my own. **

Once a cooler had been found and the severed digit had been placed on ice, Hotch returned to what the BAU did best: profiling the scene. A quick scan to re-examine the placement of the bodies. "I don't think it's a coincidence that the first female victim we found was also the first body we found posed. From the way she's posed it's clear he wanted her to see what he did to the male victim, almost as if he somehow blames her for his... Morgan?" Hotch stopped speaking when he realized his colleague wasn't paying any attention to him.

Morgan stood staring at the cooler held by one of the agents from the evidence retrieval team. Hotch sighed. "I'll stay here and see what I can make of the scene. You go back to the station with the finger and get a scan of the print to Garcia. I'll get a ride back with the Detective."

"Thanks man." was all the younger agent said as he grabbed the keys Hotch tossed him before heading back to the station. Breaking the speed limit the whole way he made it back to the station in half the time it took them to get out there. It was a tense ride as he couldn't stop himself from glancing down regularly to check on the cooler strapped into the passenger seat next to him.

While Morgan and Hotch were out at the latest dump site, Gideon and Elle remained in the conference room. With Garcia helping them out, it hadn't taken long for the profilers to finish analyzing the video of Reid. In short order they were back taking yet another look at victimology.

"Look I know we don't like –" Gideon started to say when JJ literally burst into the conference room. Before Gideon could say anything, the bedraggled looking woman had collapsed into a chair.

Within moments a concerned Elle was at the blonde woman's side. "Hey are you okay?"

"What?" JJ eyed her friend, a confused look on her face. She quickly recovered though. "Oh, yah I'm fine. Normally I don't mind dealing with the press just the way they are coming after Reid... some of the questions they ask..." the media liaison shook her head.

Before Elle could say anything Gideon butted in. "I thought we should compare Reid to the other victims again. Why don't you stay and help. You might see something we missed." Gideon ignored the winces that came from his team members at the implication that their youngest was a victim.

Elle looked up at the evidence board before her, her eyes landing on the first image of Reid they had received from the UNSUB. The photo had been returned to the team after it became clear the photo was devoid of any trace evidence or prints so the original was now pinned on the evidence board.

Staring at the picture she was hit with a flash of insight."Sometimes it's what they don't do..." she said aloud, echoing a conversation from the past.

Elle's remark set off a flashback for the older profiler. _It had been the start of another case that placed their youngest in danger. They were all sitting in the jet on the way to the case in Des Plaines, Illinois. The team was discussing the case. Gideon was explaining something to the rest of the team. "Sometimes it's not what the UNSUB does that reveals their profile. Sometimes it's what they do not do." Reid immediately picked up on what his mentor was trying to get at. "He doesn't kill his victims." _He snapped out of it. "What about it?"

"What if we applied the same principal to the victimology in this case. Instead of looking at how Reid is similar to the other victims we look at how he's different." Elle explained.

Gideon smiled at the newest member of their team. "That's a great idea." He paused a moment to think. "The other victims were all relatively high risk victims: new to the area, not many friends, a history of risky behavior. While there's always some risk in our line of work it's not the same kind of risk. When we're on a case Reid is pretty much at the station or out with a partner 99 % of the time."

Elle spoke up next. "Well if our theory about who he's targeting is correct then he must have had access to information about the other victims somehow. They weren't just victims of opportunity. He couldn't have stalked Reid though because we had only been in town for half a day."

"Unless he was stalking him before we even got here." suggested JJ. Before the profilers could even comment on the idea they were interrupted by the conference room door being opened.

All three profilers raised an eyebrow when Morgan walked in carrying a cooler.

As soon as Morgan finished scanning the fingerprint into the computer he called Garcia.

"Hey babygirl I'm sending you some fingerprint data. I just need you to run it against a single set of prints to start. We need the results ASAP"

"All right" replied Garcia "whose prints am I comparing it to"

"Spencer Reid. His prints should be on file with the..." Morgan uncharacteristically trailed off.

He heard a strangled cry and in the silence that followed he thought the analyst had hung up. Then she said "Derek Morgan what aren't you telling me. " There was anger in her voice, something he had never heard before. Sure she had been annoyed, maybe even ticked off, but never truly angry.

"We found a severed digit. I'm sorry babygirl but preliminary testing shows the blood type is a match to Reid's" he told her.

Instantly he heard her emotions shift as she let out a choked sob. "Penelope, listen. I need you to hold it together for me girl. We won't know for certain unless you run that print."

Morgan's words seemed to somehow penetrate the emotions clouding her judgment. Although she let out another choked sob, Morgan could hear her rapidly typing away at her computer.

Suddenly Garcia's sobs turned into cries of relief. "It's not his Morgan. The fingerprint isn't a match." Upon hearing the news Morgan let out a breath he hadn't even realized he was holding. He then whispered soft, soothing words as Garcia continued to cry until she gradually calmed down.

When she was finally calm, he asked her to run the print against the national database before finally hanging up.

-PTTR-PTTR-PTTR-

The man hummed as he sat in his editing suite. While had heavily edited the first video he sent to the station for those so-called FBI profilers he had been in too big a hurry to edit the second video. He had rushed out after finishing with the kid to get the package to the post office in time for the last pickup of the day. He had even paid extra to ensure the package would be delivered the next morning.

Now he sat in front of his monitors editing the footage. The un-edited version had been for the kid's colleagues. The edited footage would be his viewing pleasure. Just a few choice clips to keep him... the man's internal dialogue suddenly halted.

On screen he saw the agent's lips moving though he couldn't quite make out what he was saying. Frowning he started working the keyboard until he separated the audio tracks from different sources. Picking out the track containing the kid's voice he enhanced it using his software until he could just make out what the kid was saying.

_" Suppressed rage. So suppressed I don't even think he realizes he's experiencing it."_ As the kid's words echoed through the tiny room where he worked the man felt a boiling rage run through him.

Storming out of the chamber he returned to the basement where his captive once again hung. Grabbing the knife he carried in his waistband he plunged the blade hilt-deep into Reid's gut, viciously twisting as he did so causing the agent to scream in pain.

As soon as he felt the tip of the knife scrape bone he pulled his hand away from the hilt violently, almost as if he had been burned. Inwardly he cursed his stupidity and recklessness. It was pure luck that he had missed anything vital, pure dumb luck that Dr. Reid wasn't bleeding out in front of him.

He had almost ruined everything by allowing uncontrolled rage to guide his blade rather than the usual cool, surgical precision. He needed to get out now. He needed to hunt.

-PTTR-PTTR-PTTR-

Hearing his phone ringing on his belt Morgan picked it up and quickly checked the caller ID before answering. "Hi babygirl"

"I've got a couple of things for you. We got a match on the severed digit and the linguistic profile on the UNSUB's original note came back. Which do you want first?"

"Hold on a sec, let me get the others" Morgan replied, returning to the conference room where the rest of the team sat. Hitting the speakerphone button, he set his cell down on the table. "Okay give us the info on the finger first."

"The fingerprint you sent me matched up to one Marvin Hayes. His fingerprints were in the system from an old arrest for public intoxication. Background check shows he's a local and according to his driver's license he resides at 55 Clearview Crescent, apartment 3C."

"Gideon why don't you to take Morgan and head over to Mr. Hayes's house when we're done here and see what you can find" ordered Hotch. Gideon was quick to nod his agreement.

"Well that's all I have for you on Marvin Hayes at the moment. But I CAN tell you more about the first letter the UNSUB sent." Garcia told them.

"All right Garcia, give us what you've got" replied Hotch.

"This linguistic profile comes to us courtesy of one Alex Blake. Apparently linguistics is her thing. Anyways, the language indicates the UNSUB is male, highly educated, between the ages of 25 - 35. The rest of the details are in the complete profile which should be coming through to you by fax any minute now."

"Thanks Garcia" said Hotch before ending the call on Morgan's phone and handing it back to him. As soon as his phone was back in his possession Morgan followed Gideon out of the station. It was time to pay Mr. Hayes a visit.

-PTTR-PTTR-PTTR-

Despite his condition, or maybe because of it, Reid had managed to fall asleep after the UNSUB had removed the IV and returned him to the basement. Well not sleep precisely. Filled with nightmares and far from restful, whatever Reid experienced fell somewhere between the realm of sleep and the realm of unconsciousness.

He was rudely and abruptly awakened from his state of pseudo sleep by the sharp pain of a knife entering his gut. The pain of the blade twisting inside him ripped a scream from his throat before he was even fully aware of what was happening.

His eyes flicked open just in time to see the man withdraw his hand from the knife. Letting his head drop, he could just make out the knife buried hilt-deep in his abdomen in the dim light that spilled out from another room. The sight was enough to trigger a panic attack in the young agent. His first effort to control his overwhelming emotions resulted in only a single strangled breath. Reid tried again, managing a few slightly fuller breaths the second time.

At the same time Reid fought against his body's instinctive need to try and curl itself into the fetal position. He only partly succeeded as he found himself pulling his knees up towards his chest. With his hands pinned above his head, his shoulders were left to bear the brunt of his weight. The pain in his shoulders soon became too much however so he slowly forced his knees down to take his weight once more.

Slowly his panic lessoned, particularly as it appeared that the stab wound, while painful, had somehow managed to miss anything important. By the time he looked up again his tormenter was long gone.

Back in control, Reid tried to reason through the man's actions. The man had stabbed him without giving him a reason. While a sadist typically didn't need a reason to cause pain, the UNSUB hadn't actually stayed around long enough to even see Reid in pain.

Reid recalled the scene that had greeted him earlier: the UNSUB pulling his hand away from the hilt of his knife. Not the slow withdrawal of someone who had just completed a calculated deed. No, it was the quick retreat of someone almost repulsed by what he had done.

Given everything he knew about him it couldn't have been the act itself that repulsed the man. Which meant, as far as Reid could tell, this newest torture hadn't been planned. It meant the UNSUB was starting to unravel, to lose control.

A devolving UNSUB was a dangerous UNSUB. Though he had always considered himself a man of science, Reid found himself praying his team would find him in time.

-PTTR-PTTR-PTTR-

As soon as his agents were gone Hotch grabbed the full linguistic profile off the fax machine, gripping the bridge of his nose as he did so. He could feel a pressure headache coming on which was the last thing he needed at that moment. Hopefully with the linguistic profile they would get the last pieces they needed to deliver a profile of the UNSUB to the locals.

Checking his watch he swore loudly. Their time with George Stanley was almost up. The DA would have to file charges soon and they only had enough evidence to charge him with assaulting a federal agent and kidnapping. With their luck Stanley would post bail and then end up in the wind.

Speaking of which, a clatter in the bullpen drew Hotch's attention just in time to see a pair of uniformed officers escorting George Stanley out of the station in both leg and wrist irons. At the same time Hotch spotted Detective Stanfield out of the corner of his eye.

Detective Stanfield scanned the station rapidly. When he spotted Hotch he headed over to talk to the profiler.

"Any word on what the DA is charging him with?" asked Hotch when the other man reached him.

"Huh?" asked the detective.

Hotch pointed to Stanley and his escort who had just made it to the door. "Our 48 hours are up."

"Oh, ummm I have no idea." replied the detective, "Dispatch got a call earlier about another body in Harbour Park. The first officers on scene reported that the victim appears to have multiple stab wounds along with a GSW to the shoulder. And, get this, the victim was also missing a pinky finger."

The seasoned profile had trouble hiding his surprise at the last bit of info. "Has the body been moved yet?"

"' 'fraid so. The victim was rushed to the ER soon after the officers arrived."

"The ER... the victim survived?"

-PTTR-PTTR-PTTR-

Only 20 minutes had gone by since they left the station when Morgan pulled the SUV curbside next to the rundown old apartment building on the edge of town where Mr. Hayes resided.

Both profilers exited the vehicle in a timely manner and made their way up to apartment 3C. Gideon knocked on the door once, twice, no answer. Pulling out his service weapon he nodded to Morgan who did the same. He figured that the severed digit clutched in the hand of the last victim was probable cause enough to enter the apartment.

Within seconds of unholstering his gun, Morgan proceeded to raise his right leg and kick the door in. The inside of the apartment was dark but Gideon found a light-switch next to the door and flicked it on.

When the lights flickered to life they revealed... absolutely nothing. No blood, no sign of a disturbance. It took mere minutes for them to clear the rest of the one-bedroom apartment. No Marvin Hayes.

Leaving the bedroom Gideon checked the main room again. Scanning the kitchen he found today's paper neatly folded on the kitchen table. "Someone ate breakfast here this morning. Some of these are still wet" he told his colleague, pointing to the dishes drying on a rack next to the sink. "Phone Garcia and see if she can find out what Mr. Hayes does for a living."

Just then Gideon's phone rang. After checking the caller ID he answered it. "Gideon." He listened to the caller speak for a minute or two before saying "We'll be right there."

Hanging up the phone he turned to his fellow profiler. "That was Hotch. Change of plans. We're going to the hospital."

-PTTR-PTTR-PTTR-

Hotch hadn't even gotten the chance to set his phone back on his belt after hanging up with Gideon when the device rang in his hand. He answered it one-handed, the finger of his other hand coming up swiftly to pinch the bridge of his nose. "Hotchner."

"Sir, I managed to compile a list of all doctors, nurses and medical-school dropouts in the area. I've managed to gather basic information on most of them so far which I've sent to your PDAs."

"Thanks Garcia can you –". Whatever the team leader had been about to say was losst when he was interrupted by the persistent beep signaling a call waiting. "Listen Garcia, I'm going to have to call you back. " Hanging up with Garcia, Hotch quickly answered the incoming call.

"Hotchner?"

Elle looked up from her work at the second call. He wondered who her boss could be talking to given that the entire team had either checked in within the last 10 minutes or were still at the station. She paused to listen to the one-sided conversation.

"Yes but what does that have to do with..."

"How do you know they're connected?"

"I see."

Elle watched her boss visibly blanche, the blood draining from his face, with the last statement. Whatever the caller had said had clearly disturbed her normally unflappable boss.

"We'll be there as soon as we can." Hanging up and pocketing his phone he motioned for Elle to follow him before heading into the bullpen to find his communications liaison. Scanning the room he soon spotted the blond woman and catching her eye he waved her over.

"I want both of you with me. I'll call Gideon and Morgan and have them meet us there when they finish up at the hospital." said the team leader as soon as he had both women in ear shot.

"Meet us where? What happened?" asked JJ after seeing the look on her boss's face.

"We're needed in Augusta. I'll explain on the way."

**Hmmm it seems like this is turning more and more into a 'the UNSUB stalked the BAU' situation which I kind of had in mind from the beginning... well anyways we shall see how this goes. Anyways thanks for reading and please take the time to review!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Sorry for the delay again. I wrote half of this chapter one the train only to realize I needed some information I had left in my dorm room. I hope this chapter more than makes up for it. I ended up focusing a little more on Hotch than I planned to but I wanted to show how Reid's disappearance is affecting him. That's also why the team is more touchy-feely than they would normally be. I also spent way too much time finally naming the UNSUB. Anyways I hope you enjoy this chapter and next chapter is shaping up to be mostly Reid and the UNSUB. Enjoy. **

**Oh and just to warn you I decided this story needed a little more arrogance. You'll see what I mean. **

**Warning: Vague references to sexual assault**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds nor the Criminal Minds characters. All other characters and mistakes are my own. **

The man dropped what he was doing when the PDA buzzed angrily on his belt, signaling an incoming e-mail. It had been happening more and more frequently in the past 24 hours, a fact that had not been lost on the man though he wasn't overly concerned.

Out of habit he popped the device off his belt and opened the message. What he read made his breath hitch in his chest momentarily. It wasn't the content of the e-mail itself that bothered him but the attachments. More specifically the attached file labeled 'Paul Ryder'. The file with his name on it.

He had underestimated his adversaries. They were smarter, more efficient than he ever thought, even without their resident genius. Logic dictated he should dispose of the kid and cut his losses while he still had the chance to run.

He hummed as he thought, quickly coming up with a plan of action. Drawing the gun from his waste-band and picking up a large knife from the silver tray in the living room he went down to the basement where his captive still hung. It was time to deal with the problem.

-PTTR-PTTR-PTTR-

Arriving at the hospital, Morgan and Gideon both flashed their credentials at the triage desk in the emergency room. "A man was brought in earlier today with multiple stab wounds, a GSW to the shoulder and a missing pinky finger. Take us to him." Gideon ordered.

If the nurse on duty was startled by the presence of FBI agents she hid it well. Logging into the hospital computer system she typed rapidly, looking up the required information. "I'm sorry agent...?" the nurse started, faltering when she realized they had never introduced themselves.

"Gideon, and this is Agent Morgan. The man?" Gideon supplied.

"Agent Gideon, a man with wounds matching your description, a John Doe, was brought in earlier but he was rushed into the OR. He's still in surgery."

Gideon sighed at their luck. "How long?" he asked.

"It shouldn't be too long now" replied the nurse, "If you have a seat in our waiting room I'll let you know as soon as our John Doe is out of surgery and able to receive visitors."

"Fine" said Gideon shortly before leading Morgan towards the waiting area where the profilers sat down in the uncomfortable, hard plastic chairs to wait. When Morgan pulled out his cell phone to update their team leader the nurse from earlier hurried over. "I'm sorry agent, but you can't use a cell phone in here."

Resisting the strong temptation to roll his eyes, Morgan got up, left the waiting area and stepped outside the front doors of the emergency room to make the call. "Hotchner" his boss greeted him moments later.

"Hotch, it's Morgan. We talked to the nurse on duty who informed us that our victim is still in surgery. He should be out soon but it might be a while before we get a chance to talk to him."

Hotch caught the unasked question in his agent's explanation. "Stay there until you get a chance to talk to him. You can catch up with us at the satellite office later."

"Got it" replied Morgan. Ending the call he replaced the phone on his belt and headed back to the waiting area to fill Gideon in.

-PTTR-PTTR-PTTR-

Hotch and the girls were still on the road to Augusta when the call from Morgan came in. The team leader answered the phone with one hand and gave his usual greeting, "Hotchner", before hitting the speaker button and setting his phone in the cup holder.

Morgan's voice echoed through the SUV as he updated them on the surviving victim's condition. "I guess it's just us then" he told the girls after Morgan hung up. Although JJ heard the slight worry in her boss's voice she didn't take it personally. With Reid's life in jeopardy they needed every advantage they could get.

As he drove, he explained the mysterious phone call he had received earlier. "The Supervisory Special Agent in charge of the Augusta satellite office called to say a body was left on the steps of their building. There was a bloody note stuffed into the guy's pocket. The blood on the note was Reid's." *

With that last bit of news the SUV descended into worried silence as both Elle and JJ turned their thoughts towards their missing colleague. The silence lasted the rest of the ride until they pulled to a stop next to the FBI building in Augusta.

An older, slightly gray-haired agent stood outside the building waiting for them when they arrived. Next to him stood a younger man with short brown hair, piercing blue eyes and too much muscle. The older man stepped up and introduced himself to the much-reduced team.

"I'm SSA Peter Blackwell. I'm the agent in charge here. This here is Special Agent Alex Parker. I've assigned Agent Parker to give you any assistance you need."

Shaking hands with Agent Blackwell, Hotch quickly introduced him to the girls and explained that the rest of their agents were held up at the hospital but would be along eventually. As Agent Blackwell led them into the building Hotch spotted an area of the steps that had been cordoned off by pylons. He figured that was where the body had been dropped.

"We already sent the body over to the chief medical examiner's office but the letter is waiting for you in the conference room" Agent Blackwell explained as they went. Elle and JJ found it slightly disconcerting that Agent Parker had yet to say anything to the team.

When they finally reached the conference room Agent Blackwell pointed to the blood stained piece of paper sitting in an evidence bag on the table before retreating to his office, leaving the BAU agents alone with Agent Parker.

Hotch pulled on a pair of blue examination gloves before sitting down at the table in front of the note. Before he got a chance to slide the note out of the bag, Agent Parker suddenly broke his silence.

"What kind of FBI agent gets himself kidnapped by the suspect he's chasing." he sneered. Even JJ could hear the condescension in his voice and see the look of arrogance on his face when he said it.

Before either of her team mates could say anything, Elle started screaming at the man. "Why don't you just shut up. You have no idea what you're talking about. It could have happened to anybody. It could have happened to me." As soon as she started yelling Hotch and JJ had each grabbed an arm in case she decided to attack her fellow agent. With her last words they felt all the tension drain out of the profiler and heard a low sob.

Staring at the broken woman before him, Agent Parker felt nothing but contempt. _Woman don't belong in the FBI._ Parker didn't actually dare voice his thoughts on the matter. While the women were nothing he couldn't handle, Agent Hotchner was a different matter.

Hotch, who had gotten up from the table as soon as Agent Parker spoke, moved to place himself between the arrogant man and his distraught agent. Turning his back on Agent Parker, he moved close to Elle and whispered in her ear. "Why don't you go wait in the SUV."

Elle shook her head furiously at the suggestion. She wanted to see the letter. She needed to see the letter. After a second of consideration though she decided to give herself a minute. "Bathroom" she told her boss before leaving the room to find one.

With the situation somewhat diffused, Hotch sat back down at the conference room. Slowly and carefully he slid the note out of the evidence bag. The paper had been folded in 3 and the word "BAU" was clearly visible in bold letters despite the blood. Nobody had read what it had to say yet. The agents at the satellite office had left that up to the BAU.

Elle had returned, much calmer, by the time Hotch had started to unfold the letter. Elle stood behind with one hand on his shoulder on one side while JJ stood similarly behind the other. Agent Parker stood in a corner of the room with his arms crossed and rolled his eyes at the dramatics.

Pointedly ignoring the agent, Hotch opened the letter and all 3 agents began to read.

-PTTR-PTTR-PTTR-

Despite everything he had gone through over the past several days, Spencer Reid was still in fairly decent shape physically. As far as he knew the UNSUB hadn't forced anything else into his system since before he killed Jane. Reid figured the drugs were mostly out of his system and there was only so much time a person could spend asleep.

After the initial shock of being stabbed had worn off, Reid needed something to occupy his mind. He had started off by trying to build a profile of the man who held him but that only went so far. _White male, approximately 29 years old. Sadist. Extreme hatred of women as expressed by his suppressed rage. _

As soon as Reid's mind started to drift his thoughts automatically turned towards the UNSUB and he felt terror slowly begin to overwhelm him. The stabs of pain from the knife still embedded in his gut every time he took a breath didn't help.

So Reid did the only thing he could. He retreated into his memories, memories of his team, his makeshift family.

He focused on Gideon first, his mentor, the father he never really had. One memory in particular stood out to him. A conversation with Gideon the first time he killed a man.

_"This is going to hit you... and when it does... there's only three facts you need to know. You did what you had to do and a lot of good people are alive because of what you did." _

_"What's the third?"_

_"I'm proud of you._"

Reid quickly tumbled into another memory, another conversation from the past. A hostage situation aboard a train in Texas.

_Gideon started walking away but he turned back to face the pair. "Elle"_

_"Yah?" Elle replied._

_"Don't ever call me dad again." Gideon said before walking away for real. _

_Elle turned to Reid sitting next to her. "How do you think he would feel about mom?"_

_"Let me know when you're gonna do that so I can, uh, run"_

_Elle looked and sounded uncomfortable. "Um, Reid, you probably saved my life in there."_

_"Probably? I totally saved your life. And I'm, I'm pretty certain that it was caught on tape." _

The last memory he found himself in was one of his favorites. The team had been tracking a vigilante killer in New York when they all decided to go out for Chinese food. Morgan had laughed at him when he asked the waiter for a fork.

_"Did you know that experts credit Confucius with the advent of the chopstick? He equated knives with acts of aggression." _

_"You don't know how to use them do you." Morgan said. It wasn't a question. _

_"It's like trying to forage for dinner with a pair of number 2 pencils."_

_"Here let me help you." JJ reached over and grabbed the chopsticks from Reid. Taking a hair band she proceeded to wrap it around the end of the utensils. _

_Seeing what she was doing Morgan spoke up. "Ah the rubber band trip."_

_"Yep the rubber band trick." _

_Even with the rubber band he had continued to drop his food to the amusement of his co-workers. _

Reid's mind was abruptly pulled back to the present by the sound of the basement door opening. What he saw when the UNSUB stepped into the light frightened him. But it wasn't the gun in his hand or the large knife he carried that had Reid worried. No, it was the wild look in his eye, the expression on the man's face. It was the same look he saw when an UNSUB realized he was caught with nowhere to go.

People, like animals, are at their most dangerous when they have nothing to lose.

-PTTR-PTTR-PTTR-

_My Dearest BAU, _

_How could you be so stupid as to send your youngest out with just a weak woman to protect him. So young, so... vulnerable. Elle Greenway was helpless to protect him, lying unconscious on the floor while I bound him with her handcuffs. _

_Where was the infamous Jason Gideon when his protég__é__ was being kidnapped? I thought getting to Spencer would be difficult but you guys made it far too easy. He literally walked right into my partner's home. _

_It is because of all of you, because you failed, that Dr. Spencer Reid is dead. You won't catch me in time and he will die in pain. Not before I have my way with him though. What I did to the others will be nothing compared to what I'll do to him. _

_On the off chance that you do find me in time and manage to rescue Dr. Reid, you're already too late. The youngest and therefore the weakest, the kid is already broken, a mere shadow of the man he once was. _

_It didn't have to be this way. _

_- PTTR_

Elle was the first too look away. She couldn't force herself to read past the part accusing her of being weak. Too weak to protect the man who once saved her life. While JJ and Hotch finished reading, Elle left the conference room to go find a bathroom for the second time that day.

JJ finished next and after tossing a glare at the agent in the corner she went off to find her absent colleague. Hotch remained in the room, ignoring Agent Parker, as he re-read the letter twice.

Returning the letter to the evidence bag he slipped the bag into his pocket and started to leave. Agent Parker spoke, a look of outrage on his face. "You can't just take–"

Hotch cut him off before he could go any farther. "I can and I will." Both his tone and the look on his face practically dared the younger man to argue.

Despite his obvious flaws, Agent Parker was smart enough not to mess with the BAU unit chief, choosing to silently follow the agent out the door instead, a look of contempt on his face.

Hotch had barely left the room when he ran into the girls returning from the bathroom. "Come on, we're heading over to the ME's office. Now." he said as he brushed past them.

Both ladies pulled an about face and followed their leader out of the FBI office. "Will the forensic pathologist even have anything for us yet?" Elle asked.

"I don't care if they have anything or not at this point. We need to see the body." replied her boss, quickening his pace. His behaviour concerned Elle. She tried to recall if she had ever seen him this way during a case. He had taken the time to ask her how she was doing after Reid's abduction but had anyone ever taken the time to ask him? A discrete look at Hotch's face revealed his jaw was clenched so tightly she was surprised she couldn't hear it creak.

-PTTR-PTTR-PTTR-

Gideon glanced down at his watch. They had been waiting at the hospital for so long that Hotch and the others were probably already at the Augusta field office by now. It was looking more and more like by the time they were done there would be no point in joining the others.

Morgan paced the waiting room like a caged tired as he had been doing ever since the phone call with Hotch. Gideon knew the younger man wanted to be out in the field finding the young man who had practically become a kid brother to him over the past 3 years. Instead they were stuck here waiting to talk to someone who might not have even seen anything.

Suddenly a nurse came over to talk to them. "Mr. Doe is out of surgery and resting comfortably. If you will follow me." Although it was a different nurse, she had clearly been filled in on the situation. She led the profilers through a series of doors to a semi-private room. A doctor was waiting for them in front of the door.

"You're the FBI agents? I'm Dr. McKinley. I've been looking after our John Doe. Maybe you can shed some light on his identity since he refuses to give us his name."

Gideon reached out and shook the man's hand. "I'm Agent Gideon and this Agent Morgan. We might be able to identify him after we see him. Can you give us a rundown on his injuries first?"

Dr. McKinley frowned. "I was informed that you guys already knew the basics..."

"Dr. McKinley we'll need more specifics if we're going to find the man who did this to him." Gideon prodded.

"Well Mr. Doe had 5 stab wounds to the chest and abdomen. He was shot in the right shoulder with .40 caliber bullet which we managed to remove intact. He was missing his left pinky and the wound was seared making reattachment impossible." The way Dr. McKinley trailed off at the end it was clear to the profilers that he wasn't used to this level of violence.

"Thank you Dr. McKinley." said Gideon, "We'll talk to the patient now."

Dr. McKinley pushed open the door and stepped aside to let the agents through. "He still needs his rest. You have 15 minutes" he informed the profilers before shutting the door behind them.

"We'll have to get the bullet from the hospital for a ballistics comparison but I would bet my badge that it was fired from Reid's missing gun." whispered Morgan when they were just inside the door.

"That's a pretty safe bed. Searing the wound is certainly consistent with the profile and the stab wounds are generally consistent with his MO." Gideon replied.

Morgan was about to say more when they both noticed that the patient was awake and staring at them. Both agent's immediately identified him as their missing man, Marvin Hayes, from his DMV photo.

Gideon strode forward, Morgan close behind, and pulled his badge out. "Mr. Hayes I'm Agent Gideon, this is Agent Morgan. We're with the FBI's behavioral analysis unit and we'd like to ask you some questions."

Mr. Hayes's eyes went wide at the sight of the FBI badge. He began to glance around him, a look of panic on his face. Sweat glistened in a sheen on his forehead as the monitors attached to him began to voice their complaints. Fear was sending his blood pressure and heart rate skyrocketing.

Dr. McKinley rushed in followed by a pair of nurses. He paused for a second to shoot the agents an apologetic look. "I'm sorry agents but I'm going to have to ask you to –". The rest of the doctors words were cut off by a new sound coming from the machines next to Hayes's bed.

Dr. McKinley began to shout orders at the nurses. "Grab the crash cart. Ready a standard dose of adrenaline. He's crashing!"

_*** I know they got the DNA match faster than humanely possible but it was necessary for creative reasons**_

**In case anyone was curious a standard dose of adrenaline would be about 0.5 ml of 1/1000 adrenaline (at least that's what I found when I was looking it up). Agent Parker will continue to be a pain and a jerk and a way for our profilers to vent their anger. **

**Thank you for reading, please take the time to review. They motivate me!**


	13. Chapter 13

**First of all I want to thank everyone who has taken the time to leave a review so far. Second of all I warn you I wrote part of this chapter when I was angry about something and part of this chapter while I was in the dentist's chair (don't ask) so I apologize for any evilness that may have been imparted. I apologize for the delay in updating but I have a lot going on. I would update every day if I had the time. Anyways enjoy this chapter. Coming up next chapter... the profile... maybe ;)**

**Warning: References to some adult themes and minor language. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds nor the Criminal Minds characters. All other characters and mistakes are my own. **

"Grab the crash cart. Ready a standard dose of adrenaline. He's crashing!"

Ten minutes after those fateful words had echoed through the room and the profilers had been hustled out of the room a nurse came out and pretty much told them that even when the patient was stabilized there was no chance in hell that they were getting anywhere near the patient again.

Gideon called Detective Stanfield first who promised to have a pair of officers stationed outside Hayes's room at all times even if they had to enlist the aid of the state police to make it so. His next call was to Hotch. "Hayes crashed right after we started questioning him. His doctor isn't going to let us try again any time soon." Gideon paused to listen before hanging up.

"They're still in Augusta and Hotch wants us to meet him at the field office. How fast can you drive?"

**-PTTR-PTTR-PTTR-**

The same forensic pathologist was on duty when Hotch burst through the doors of the chief medical examiner's office. The surprise on her face made it clear she hadn't expected to see him so soon but one look from the agitated unit chief silenced any protests.

"The body from the field office" Hotch demanded.

"We haven't had a..." the pathologist trailed off at the look on Hotch's face. Silently she waved him towards the back where a body was laid out on a table covered by a white sheet. "I don't really know what to tell you. We haven't even gotten around to doing preliminary–"

Hotch cut the woman off. "Half a dozen bodies here are the work of a single killer. The man who put these bodies in your morgue abducted a federal agent and if we don't get what we need he's going to do the same thing he did to all these victims to my agent." The look he gave the woman practically screamed that Reid's blood would be on her hands.

The pathologist paled at Hotch's words. "I-I'll put a rush on it sir."

Hotch heard a snort behind him and rounded on the culprit. Agent Parker had accompanied them over from the field office. Hotch shot him a look that could have curdled milk. "Something about dead bodies you find amusing, agent?" The venom in his voice was clear even to the pathologist.

"You said it yourself... you have 6 bodies in the morgue, 3 of which are at least somewhat recent, and yet all you seem to care about is some agent who couldn't even take care of himself in the field." Parker's entire statement dripped with sarcasm and condescension.

Arrogance aside, the agent's words stung Hotch like a slap to the face. Parker had a point. They hadn't been paying nearly enough attention to the other victims, they were so focused on their youngest. Hotch was so shocked by this realization that he didn't even react to the jab at Reid.

Elle, on the other hand. wasn't quite so occupied. She ground her teeth so loudly in her attempt to control her anger that JJ felt the need to step up beside her and place a hand on her shoulder. Whether the hand was meant to comfort or restrain wasn't clear but it appeared to help calm the agent some.

"There is one thing I can tell you." the pathologist ventured, drawing everyone's attention. "Based on liver temp, I would say that your three most recent victims were all killed within a two hour window. "

Hotch looked at the pathologist in confusion. "Wait did you say 3 victims?" The pathologist couldn't have possibly have know about Marvin Hayes and while there had been no confirmation from Morgan or Gideon yet he was pretty certain Hayes was in the hospital.

"Uhhh, I uhhh meant the two most recent victims." the woman covered quickly. The expression on her face resembled that of a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming car.

"Doctor, if you're hiding something I'll personally see to it that you get charged with obstruction of justice." Hotch threatened.

"Well, a woman was dropped off at the hospital earlier with multiple gun-shot wounds. She woke up just long enough to ask the nurse about a man she saw being stabbed repeatedly. She died shortly after. They called about half an hour before you arrived to let me know another body would be coming in. When I called the FBI office to report it, the agent I talked to ordered me not to tell anyone about it."

Hotch could feel the rage boiling inside him as the woman told her story. "I need the name of the agent you talked to" he barked out, the tension in his voice clearly audible to everyone in the room.

"Let me see... I think the man's name was Parker... Agent Alex Parker."

On hearing the woman's words he turned to glare at the man standing in the corner. "Don't think I won't be reporting this to your superiors" he told the agent before turning back to the pathologist who began to speak again.

"Anyways, based on liver temp from the first two victims and the time the woman, assuming she was shot by the same man, was dropped off at the ER, the attacks all occurred within the same 2 hour window."

Hotch mulled the information over in his head for a while. If the 'newest' victim was attacked by the same UNSUB then why did he take her to the hospital? It had to have been the UNSUB since anyone else would have just called 9-1-1 to report it. The woman had been talking about their latest victim... maybe she had interrupted the UNSUB at work and he reacted on instinct.

Hotch mentally pushed his questions aside when his phone rang. He answered as soon as he saw who was calling. "Hotch." Hotch listened while Gideon confirmed that the man in the hospital was indeed Marvin Hayes but otherwise the hospital was currently a dead end.

"We're not done in Augusta yet and we could really use your help. Get here as soon as you can." Hotch hung up the phone without waiting for a reply. After working together for so long there were times when Hotch could just trust Gideon to do what was necessary. Satisfied that the rest of his team were on the way, Hotch turned his attention back to the body in front of him.

The most obvious thing about the body was the myriad of stab wounds on the victim's chest. Unlike with the previous victims where the stab wounds were inflicted with careful precision, the stab wounds on this victim seemed random, violent and completely out of control. "Doctor, how many of these wounds would have hit major organs?"

Joining Hotch at the table the forensic pathologist did a quick scan of the body. "It's hard to know for certain without a more thorough examination of the body but I would say at least a dozen, and that's on the low end."

JJ saw Hotch and Elle exchange a look at the pathologist's words. "What?" she asked.

"That many wounds to vital organs? That's some definite overkill" explained Elle.

"In other words... he's devolving." Hotch's words seemed to echo in the sterile room long after he finished saying them.

**-PTTR-PTTR-PTTR-**

When Paul opened the door he saw Reid's head snap up in the light still spilling out from the open door to his editing suite. He felt his captive's eyes on him all the way down the stairs and across the room. He shoved the barrel of the kid's gun up against his skull and chuckled inwardly at the look of terror on Reid's face.

Reid on his part struggled as much as his bonds allowed, trying to put as much distance between his brain and the barrel of the gun as possible. The logical part of his brain told him that a few inches wouldn't make any difference in terms of survival but at times like this instinct overruled logic.

Paul was starting to get annoyed with the kid's squirming. "Stop struggling" he hissed, and the young man's movements instantly ceased. The instant compliance gave Paul a immediate sense of dominance and sent a thrill running through him.

Sticking the knife in his belt, he kept his gun trained on Reid as he slipped the cuffs off the hook. Awkwardly he used one hand to release Reid's left wrist from the handcuffs just long enough to handcuff his arms behind his back again.

Then, just for the thrill of it, he forced the young man down on his knees, a gun to the back of his head ensuring compliance. He could hear each breath the doctor took as his knees hit the ground. He stopped for a second and inhaled deeply, the smell of sweat and the stench of fear giving him a rush.

Seeing the pale, shirtless young man so helpless before him he began to wonder... his fantasies were cut off by a grunt of pain. The sound brought him back to reality and reminded him of the knife still sticking out of his captive's gut. He would have to tend to the wound before anything else.

Reid kneeled on the ground in silence and fear wondering what his captor was waiting for. His winced with every involuntary grunt of pain. Suddenly his view of the world was cut off as the hated blindfold once more enveloped his head.

Paul roughly grabbed the kid and pulled him off the floor. It was sad how little effort it took on his part. Dr. Reid hadn't weighed much before but after a few days of being sustained strictly through an IV he seemed to weigh almost nothing.

He had pocketed the gun so he could tie the blindfold. Now he snaked one hand between his captives bound arms and his back while using the other hand to draw the knife. Pressing the knife to the kid's throat he leaned forward to whisper in his ear. "We're going to walk now. Try anything and your dead." To emphasize his point he pressed harder than necessary drawing a thin, stinging line across the younger man's throat.

Reid was forced to march in front of the man. Blindfolded, he couldn't tell where they were going but he figured his captive would be taking him upstairs again. He was surprised when they stopped somewhere in the basement and his surprise was compounded when he heard the man unlock a door. He hadn't noticed any other doors when the overhead lights were on.

When the door was open the man pushed his captive through it. Reid stumbled a bit but luck was on his side for once and he didn't fall. With his hands bound behind him a fall probably would have forced the knife further into his gut.

Reid felt the pressure of the knife leave his throat but before he could react the man swept him up in a bridal style carry. That lasted only seconds though before he found himself dumped on some sort of table. Reid shivered once as cold metal met naked flesh.

He tried to sit up but a hand on his chest forced him back to the table. When he felt the first leather strap wrap around his ankle he kicked out with his free foot but without any way to judge where his captor was all this earned him was a stinging slap to the face.

The blow stunned the kid long enough for Paul to finish strapping his ankles to the table. He puzzled for a moment over what to do with his upper body. All of his previous guests had been well and truly broken by the time they ever saw this room so leg and arm restraints were all that were needed.

Making a decision he walked over to his refrigeration unit in the corner and pulled out an ampule of vecuronium powder. He easily snapped the neck off the little glass container and quickly mixed up a solution of the drug. Paul filled the syringe and after checking to make sure no air was trapped inside he went over to his restrained 'patient' and proceeded to inject the solution into his captive.

Paul smiled as the drug took hold within 60-seconds. A paralyzing agent, it would prevent the doctor from moving during the procedure but still let him feel everything that was happening. He moved back to the refrigeration unit to prepare a second dose, just in case he took longer than expected.

Reid gave a sharp intake of breath when he felt the needle pierce his vein. The movement jostled the knife sending a flare of pain through his body. When the pain died down he tried to shift his body into a more comfortable position only to realize his muscles were no longer responding. _The needle must have contained some sort of paralyzing drug._ Fear lanced through him at this realization.

Reid laid there helplessly, feeling a bit like a ragdoll as the man un-cuffed his arms so he could bind his wrists to the table with leather straps.

Suddenly pain ripped through him as the knife was torn from his body. There was nothing he could do about the waves of fire that washed out from the stab wound. With his vocal cords paralyzed by the drug, Dr. Reid couldn't even scream.

**-PTTR-PTTR-PTTR-**

"In other words... he's devolving."

A silence settled between the agents as they processed what Hotch had said. The forensic pathologist soon broke the silence by clearing her throat. Hotch gazed at her, silently conveying permission to speak.

"It might be worthwhile to note that neither appear to be drained of blood. I'll need to do further tests to confirm this but based on lividity it's clear they had plenty of blood left in them when they died. " the pathologist explained.

Hotch frowned at this latest bit of news. "That fits with our theory about the partnership so far. George Stanley was the artist who used blood in his artwork. With him out of the picture there was no reason to –"

"No, that's not right" Elle interrupted. When her teammates turned to face her they saw she had her hands up to her face and was using her palms to rub her eyes. "Something Reid said."

"Something you remember?" asked Hotch.

"It was something Reid said after..." Elle paused again. "After we went to... a print shop."

Hotch found himself pausing at Elle's words. Elle had told Morgan that Reid had dragged her back to the SUV after receiving some crime scene photos from Garcia. Maybe he had dragged her back to the SUV to visit the print shop. If they could narrow down what print shop they visited they might just find a clue as to whatever angle Reid had been working. "Elle, take JJ and head back to the station. I want you to contact Garcia and get her help to try and figure out what print shop you guys might have visited. This could be important."

While Elle didn't really want to leave before they had a chance to discuss the newest letter from the UNSUB she didn't really feel up to arguing with her boss at that moment. Reluctantly she took the keys from her boss, knowing that Morgan and Gideon were already on their way down.

"Sending those two away might have been the smartest thing you've done all day." remarked Agent Parker, once the girl's were out the door.

The normally stoic Hotch resisted the strong urge to roll his eyes. He would have forgotten Agent Parker was in the room if it weren't for the smart-ass comments he offered up every so often. Now that the girls had gone and taken the SUV it seemed he was stuck with Parker for the time being.

**-PTTR-PTTR-PTTR-**

Only 10 minutes into the procedure Dr. Reid's eyes had rolled into the back of his head as he lost consciousness. Paul had checked his vitals and everything was normal so Paul figured his 'patient' had passed out from the pain.

While the doctor was still unconscious, Paul unstrapped him from the table and handcuffed his hands behind his back as before. With that done he lifted the kid into a bridal carry. While he generally didn't have a problem with dragging his captives along the floor, he was in a bit of a hurry.

The last thing Paul did before shutting off the lights was grab the other syringe he had prepared. He carried Dr. Reid up the basement stairs, through the house upstairs and outside to his car. He debated sticking the young man in the trunk of the car again before finally deciding on the back seat.

He dumped Reid onto the seat so that his cuffed hands were under his body. Before shutting the door he injected the contents of the second syringe into his captive. That would give him at least half an hour before Dr. Reid would be able to move again.

He was about to shut the door when he decided he should take extra precautions. The young agent had already proven himself far stronger than Paul had ever imagined. Grabbing his duct tape from the trunk of the car he quickly wrapped several layers around Dr. Reid's ankles. Next he grabbed a rag from the trunk and stuffed it into his captives mouth, using more duct tape to secure it.

Bound, gagged and blindfolded as he was the doctor wouldn't be able to offer much resistance. Paul slammed the back door, slid into the driver's seat and started up the car. It was time to take a ride.

**-PTTR-PTTR-PTTR-**

Hotch had called Gideon while they were on the road and asked them to meet him at the chief medical examiner's office instead. The reason for the change became apparent when Morgan spotted the black SUV with government plates heading in the opposite direction. Evidently Hotch had sent the girls back to the station for some reason. It wasn't entirely surprising given that Elle seemed to still be suffering from the effects of the UNSUBS' attack.

When the agents arrived at the office, Hotch was waiting outside along with another man neither of them recognized. Morgan pulled up beside them and rolled down the passenger side window. "Need a lift?"

Hotch grinned briefly before opening the back door and sliding in behind Morgan. The other man slid in next. When they were both buckled in Hotch introduced the man. "This is Special Agent Alex Parker from the FBI field office."

Morgan glanced at the man in the rear view mirror before pulling away from the office. Agent Parker remained silent the entire way while Hotch filled his agents in one what they had learned from the forensic pathologist.

Morgan swore loudly when Hotch told them about the gunshot victim who had died in the hospital. She hadn't even made it to the operating table. The fact that she had woken up long enough to actually speak to a nurse was a minor miracle. His emotions were tempered by the fact that yet another person had died because they hadn't caught the UNSUB coupled with the fact that the rapid escalation displayed by the killer spelled nothing good for Reid.

When they arrived back at the field office, Hotch led the way to the conference room they had used earlier rather than waiting for Agent Parker to take the lead. When they got to the conference room he pulled Gideon over to the side. "I'm not sure if we should move our base of operations to the field office here or keep working out of the station. The fact that the UNSUB dumped a body here may mean he works somewhere between the two."

"We don't have to decide right now. Why don't you just show us what you found." Gideon took a seat at the conference room table. Seconds later Hotch joined him at the table, sliding the evidence bag containing the letter towards him.

Gideon didn't bother to take the letter out of the bag, reading through the clear plastic instead. When he got to the part accusing him of not being there for Reid he frowned. There was no way the UNSUB should have known Jason wasn't with his team. After finishing reading the letter he silently passed it to Morgan.

Morgan wisely decided to take a seat before reading the letter. When he neared the end, the profiler jumped to his feet, the outrage clear on his face. "I swear when we find that son of a bitch if he's so much as touched Reid..."

"Morgan" Gideon called.

"I will rip him apart with my–"

"Morgan." Gideon tried again. "Think for a second. What is the one thing all his male victim's have in common. What did he do to them."

Morgan eyes went wide as he realized what Gideon was getting at. "Stab wounds."

"And what do repeated stab wounds usually tell us about the UNSUB?" Gideon prompted.

"It's a form of piquerism and is typically a substitute for the – oh!". Morgan calmed down a bit. While they couldn't be positive that the UNSUB was impotent, the evidence did seem to suggest that the wording in the letter was nothing more than an idle taunt designed to throw the profilers off their game.

Agent Parker chose that moment to throw in his two cents. "Clearly you don't think Dr. Reid can protect himself, so I don't see why you allow such a liability to stay on your team." The way he almost spat the word doctor made it clear he was mocking the missing agent.

Already on edge over the letter, the comment riled Morgan up beyond his breaking point. Before either profiler could move Morgan was in front of the man with his fist cocked. _**WHAM!**_ There was a distinctive crunch as Morgan's fist broke the man's nose.

Agent Parker looked stunned for a second before he backed away from Morgan and ran out of the room. Gideon sighed while Hotch gave Morgan a stern look. "You really shouldn't have done that."

All the rage had drained out of Morgan once his fist had made contact. He flashed his superior his most innocent look. "Agent Parker really shouldn't be so clumsy."

Hotch raised an eyebrow. "He 'fell', did he? Morgan this isn't some depraved UNSUB we are talking about but a federal agent."

They stopped talking as the door opened and SSA Blackwell barged in, followed shortly by Agent Parker who was clutching a rag to his face in a vain attempt to stop the blood gushing from his nose. "Agent Parker tells me one of your agents assaulted him."

Morgan opened his mouth to speak closed it when Hotch held up hand to silence him. "My entire team is on edge right now because one of our own is missing. Agent Parker has been antagonizing my agents, insulting Dr. Reid, and ordered the medical examiner to withhold information crucial to our investigation. Go ahead and press charges against Agent Morgan but when more bodies turn up I'll make sure Agent Parker is charged with negligent homicide."

Agent Blackwell paled for a moment before turning on his own agent in a rage. "Is this true Alex?"

Agent Parker was too shocked to answer his boss. "Well. I. Umm. You see." He wilted under his superior's stern gaze.

"My office. Now." he ordered before turning back to the profilers. "I'm sorry Agents. I never expected Agent Parker to behave in such a despicable way. I'll make sure he doesn't press charges." With that he followed Agent Parker out of the room, leaving the profilers alone to finish going over the UNSUB's letter.

**-PTTR-PTTR-PTTR-**

The first thing Reid noticed as he returned to the realm of consciousness was that his whole world seemed to be moving. After listening for a couple of moments he decided that he must be in some sort of vehicle. A car maybe.

His last memories were of his captor pulling the knife out of his gut, pouring some sort of stinging liquid into the wound and then using a thread and needle to close it up. He must have passed out sometime while the man was in the process of setting the stitches.

It seemed odd to the young profiler that an UNSUB would take the time to stitch up a victim. _Victim._ Up until this point Reid had deliberately avoided using the term to refer to himself. He wasn't ready to give up yet.

The paralytic the man had injected him with seemed to be slowly wearing off. He could feel his toes responding to his control. When he tried to move his legs, he realized they were bound somehow. After testing his bonds, Reid figured the man may have used duct tape, judging by the way it stuck to his skin. It really shouldn't have surprised him that his legs were bound. He could feel the handcuffs on his wrists and taste the foul gag in his mouth.

Reid sighed inwardly. Wherever the man was taking him, he hoped they got there soon. Lying on his back like this was starting to get painful. Reid let out a low groan. _After everything I've been through over the past 3? 4? days, I'm worried about my arms falling asleep?_ He would have to share this with Morgan and Garcia when he saw them again. He knew it would make them laugh.*****

**-PTTR-PTTR-PTTR-**

"Seek and you shall find, mortal" It was good to hear a witticism from their tech goddess. They had definitely been lacking since news of Reid's disappearance had come to light.

"Garcia, can you look up any print shops within a 5 mile radius of the neighbourhood Reid and I were canvassing?" Elle asked.

"I'll have it for you in a jiffy." she replied. They heard her typing away furiously and then... "There are 5."

Elle frowned. Normally they would just visit all of them but with the killer escalating and Reid still missing there was a sense of urgency to everything they did. "Is there any way we can narrow that down?"

"If Reid was trying to print the crime scene photos then cell photos wouldn't have been high enough resolution. Garcia is there any other way Reid could have gotten access to the photos?"

"Yes m'am. I sent it to everyone's e-mail as usual. I only sent it to Reid's phone because with his anti-technology quirk the good doctor refuses to carry a PDA."

Elle frowned at the mention of PDAs. She couldn't remember the last time she had seen hers... _Focus! _"How many of these prints shops would let someone access their e-mail to print off pictures."

Garcia's fingers were busy as she ran the search again. A moment later she had her answer. "Three."

Elle growled in frustration. "Still too many. Is there any way we can narrow it down more?"

Garcia worked quickly, calling up everything she could on the 3 shops. Bingo! "While there are 3 shops in the area that would have catered to our genius's needs, only one has hours late enough for you guys to have visited."

"Thanks Garcia, you're a miracle worker." chimed Elle just before the technical analyst hung up.

Elle and JJ headed to the SUV. It was less than a 15 minute drive to the print shop Garcia had identified. Elle thought she saw a flash of recognition in the store clerk's eyes when they entered but it might have been her imagination.

Elle and JJ both flashed their badges at the man. "Can you tell us who was on duty here Friday night?"

The store clerk looked slightly annoyed by JJ's question. "Why don't you ask your partner there. She was here." Elle was right, the store clerk HAD recognized her.

"Due to circumstances beyond her control, Agent Greenaway has no recollection of parts of Friday evening. You might want to stop being belligerent and answer our questions."

"Okay, okay." The man threw his hands up in mock surrender.

"Was there a man with me with when I came in on Friday. Little over 6 feet, brown hair, hazel eyes, kind of skinny?"

"Yah. I think you called him Reid or something. He said he wanted to print something off his e-mail so I told him to use the computer in the corner." The store clerk waved to the aforementioned computer.

"Do you know what he printed?" asked Elle?

"A bunch of pictures. I don't know. He paid for the printing and then you guys left."

"Thank you for your time." said JJ before the girls left the print shop.

Once they were outside she turned to Elle. "If Reid had the pictures with him when you guys left, and they weren't at the crime scene with the rest of the pictures... maybe they're still somewhere in the SUV?"

_*** For not having his priorities straight...again**_

**If Reid seems a little out of character in the car, I was trying to show that he wasn't broken yet and also a little bit loopy at this point. Don't worry he's still our lovable genius. **

**Until next time, thanks for reading. **


End file.
